Sometimes You Need to Die
by AkikoSenpai
Summary: After his battle with Ulquiorra, Ichigo is missing. What happens next is the catalyst for change for Ichigo and his nakama, but will it be for the better? IchiRuki, IshiHime. Author's note.
1. Pt 1: Oh, Happy Death, Chapter 1

Er, this is my first attempt at Bleach Fan fiction. I've been out of the saddle a long, long time as the last piece of fanfic I wrote, I was in college and it's topic was Xena:WP at the height of the series. This will tell some of you just how long it's been and just how old I am. *blush* This story is just a totally indulgent realization of IchiRuki and Ishihime in Hueco Mundo after Ichigo's "upcoming" battle with Ulquiorra. Nothing too explicit, a little language. Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Bleach *sob*--Kubo Tite does, and thank goodness he does it :). I just write the story based on all his hard work while sliently wishing to be sucked into that alternate reality ;) Enjoy!

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**Part 1: Oh, Happy Death**

**Chapter 1**

"Ichigo? ICHIGO!" she called out to him, a tiny hint of fear in her voice, while making her way through the white wall of smoke that enveloped the area. The desert air was already harsh and heavy, the rising smoke only adding further insult to her nose and lungs with every breath. Dust and debris clung to the bottom of her black robes, pebbles and sand had gotten into her sandals, but none of that phased her.

"Where is he?" Another voice. "That blast..."

Arriving at the same spot, The Fifth Tower, from their respective battles in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo's nakama fought the Las Exequias so the substitute shinigami could go after Inoue. Just as they dispatched of the band of "extractors," they heard a terrible rumbling.

"Get back!" Ishida Uryuu cried, "it's coming down!"

The great Las Noches was blown apart from within: Ichigo and Ulquiorra's battle had thrown out enough power to take down the fortress.

"No way..." started Rukia, making her way back toward the mountain of pale stone and ash once the quaking ceased.

"Should have made it out of Sekkiseki," Abarai Renji whistled in disbelief.

Thrown a short distance from the pile of rubble was Inoue Orihime, in shock and shivering uncontrollably under her Santen Kesshun shield, which was cracked from the force of the castle's collaspe. Her white robes and thick ginger hair were disheveled and spattered with blood.

They quickly viewed the area for any danger. The Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, was nowhere in sight. Ishida flew to Inoue's side as Rukia began calling to Ichigo. Chad began hefting the rocks that made up the mountain of debris, deciding to look for Ichigo there, just in case.

"I'll scan the perimeter," Renji offered to Rukia. Using Shunpo, he disappeared from sight.

Rukia nodded to him and began to search for Ichigo's reiatsu, visualizing spirit threads around her. Normally he was easy to find because he had such terrible control of his spirit power, even when it was weak. This time, she felt nothing. _Was he even still here_?

Ishida knelt down and checked Inoue to be sure she wasn't injured. Thankfully, none of the blood on her seemed to be hers.

"Are you alright, Inoue-san?" Ishida voiced his concern. She nodded weakly as she lowered her triangular shield. Ishida thought the little sprites born of her power looked solemn and stricken, if that were possible, as they returned to her flower hairpins.

He followed, his voice thick, "Good, I'm happy your not injured, Inoue-san." A slight pause. "Do you know where Kurosaki is?" She had no response and looked stricken at his question. Her eyes betrayed her silence as they moved to the pile of stone, the horror registering in every line of her face and joint in her body. She brought up her trembling hand and pointed a finger towards the bottom of the ruins of Aizen's castle.

The realization hit Ishida like a punch to the stomach from Chad. He stood up abruptly, crying out, "He's under Las Noches!"

Renji heard him and immediately flashed back to the rubble. Ishida saw Rukia searching spirit threads for Ichigo's reiatsu, and not wanting to leave Inoue's side, he did the same to hasten the search. Chad and Renji were now randomly, frantically throwing large chunks of stone in the depserate search for their friend.

Rukia stood completely still while her nakama fumbled about the rubble searching for signs of life--Ichigo's life. The growing sense of dread was suffocating, but the small shinigami refused to let it show. _Ichigo, you fool, you better not have gone and gotten yourself killed_, she thought.

Images of Ichigo and what they'd been through since they first met in his bedroom so long ago danced through her mind. She remembered every last detail of every moment they ever spent together. How he looked, the words they said, what the weather was like, and how she felt being near him. Rukia cared deeply for the not-so-normal human whose life she changed as much as he changed hers.

She remembered in a flash the bravery he showed not knowing what would happen when he let her run him through with her zanpakutou in the chance it would give him the power to save his family. How he fought against the Grand Fisher for his mother and his pride and how it killed her to stand aside and watch. How he followed her and fought Renji and was almost killed by Nii-sama and the terrible pain she faced when she thought he would die because of her. The look on his face when he showed up in just the nick of time to save her from her execution and the warmth that found it's way to her heart at that moment. How he fought so hard against, well, everyone, to save her life. How he would sacrifice himself over and over for those he cares about.

_I can't lose him_, she thought. Still a bit weak even after Isane healed her wounds from fighting the Novena Espada, where she very nearly died herself, she reached out further with all her heart and mind, feeling for any trace of Ichigo's reiatsu.

Ishida, the Quincy who always made a point to remind his friends he was better than everyone at sensing reiatsu, tried with all his might to sense his friend, as well. With his brow furrowed and hands clenched in effort, he summoned threads of spirit power around him, desperately searching for Ichigo's. After what felt like days combing through countless ribbons, he stopped, allowing the ribbons around him to rain on the ground before they disappeared. Ishida knew being so close to Ichigo he should have felt something. He pushed his glasses onto the bridge of his nose. It wasn't there.

Sighing heavily, Ishida walked slowly to Chad and silently put his hand on his friend's shoulder with enough weight to make the large man stop hurling boulders. Chad instantly registered what that meant. The large man's shoulders slouched as his knees gave way on him, and he knelt with his head bowed in front of the ruins. Inoue's eyes brimmed with tears as Renji coaxed himself to sit on the pile of white rocks that kept them from finding Ichigo's body.

"I couldn't help him!" Inoue sobbed as the tears flowed freely down her pale cheeks to the harsh, unforgiving ground of Hueco Mundo. She shivered uncontrollably and brought her arms around herself to stop herself from shaking. "Kurosaki-kun came for me... a--and Ulquiorra... they both fell... Kurosaki-kun!"

Rukia didn't move, resolute. She saw Ishida go to Chad and heard the words Inoue choked out, but none of that mattered. She was determined to sense even a shred of his reiatsu. Her face was scrunched with effort, her pink lips a thin line as Ishida calmly walked over to where she stood.

"Stop." He held her wrist gently but firmly to get her full attention, to make her realize their friend was dead. "He's gone, Rukia-san."

At his words, Rukia ripped her hand from Ishida, and it went to her chest as if she'd been run through with a zanpakutou. Wordlessly, a picture of sheer defiance and determination, she dug in her heels, closed her violet eyes tight and looked for Ichigo's reiatsu again. Her heart would know if he was gone, wouldn't it? Stubborn as ever, Rukia fought back the sobs that were threatening to surface and break the facade of her hardened, cool exterior. All the while while her mind was screaming, _He can't be dead. He's not dead. Dammit, Ichigo, where are you_?

A tiny flicker, like the candle's flame just before it's snuffed out. Rukia's heart skipped a beat, her eyes flew open and she thrust out her hand, picking a hopelessly thin and frayed red thread out of the air, barely a wisp. It looked as if it would crumble to pieces in her hand. Without a word, she ran toward what she sensed.

No one else moved, too stunned to even breathe. She crossed in front of a bewildered Renji.

"Get up!" Rukia pulled him up with all her might and started to climb the stones while yanking Renji behind her by the front of his robes.

"Ichigo!" she called fervently as she tried to find the exact location of what she felt in the mass of fallen stone.

"Please don't let that reiatsu fade," she mumbled as she glided her way up the remnants of Las Noches.

The flurry of action brought Chad, Ishida and Inoue to their senses and they began to follow Rukia's lead. They shouted his name, waiting for some kind of response.

The small Shinigami's large eyes widened as she stepped on a massive boulder. "Here!" she shouted.

Chad pulled Rukia off the mountainous stone, reiatsu flaring, and let out a scream of effort as he picked up the entire rock and threw it clear across the landscape. Some of the smaller stones caved into the gaping hole left by the enormous rock, but the bones of the once great castle stood firm, forming a sort of crater. The sight at the center of the hole was enough to twist Rukia's gut and make her feel faint.

"Ichigo," she whispered. Zangetsu was lying next to him, shattered in what seemed a million pieces, and the pure white floor beneath the orange-haired Shinigami was turning a terrible shade of red and black.

Rukia immediately flashed down to where Ichigo lay. Outwardly, she took in the scene calmly, the epitome of stoic, as a Shinigami should when seeing a fallen comrade; however, her heart screamed "No," over and over again. He looked so small, so fragile lying on the floor before her. It was nothing like the Ichigo she knew, with his amazing strength in battle and passion for his friends. She was still clutching his spirit thread in her hand, and she knelt down next to him, taking in how dire the situation was. His eyes were wide open, staring into nowhere, the blood oozing from every inch of him was gathering in a puddle, and he didn't seem to be breathing. Rukia silently bent over him, placing her cheek next to his slighly parted lips, hoping to feel any movement of air. Nothing. With a swift shift of her head, Rukia's ear rested on Ichigo's mangled chest over his heart. There was no sound.

Time had stopped at the bottom of the chasm for Rukia, although it only took her mere seconds to confirm the worst. Her body felt like it was moving through cement as she lifted her head. Rukia searched Ichigo's face, her eyes searing into him as if she could will him awake with all her might. The blood from his gaping chest wound was smeared on her cheek, in her hair. Her hands had bathed in the blood pooling next to his body: so many painful reminders of reality adorned her now to try to deny the scene.

She looked down to the thread in her hand. It was barely an inch long now, withering away with each passing second. The small Shinigami stood in defiance. With her blood-stained hands clenched at her sides, she swore to herself right there that he would survive. Her next thought made her dizzy and queasy and afraid and resolute and fullfilled as only this particular thought could.

_I love him_.

In an instant, she was gone.

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"I'm happy you're not injured, Inoue-san," he had said.

Happy? Ishida Uryuu was so much more than just happy at finding Inoue alive and uninjured. He was positively euphoric. While he was making his way to the Fifth Tower, he searched for her spiritual pressure. Ishida could feel her first, that warm, sweet reiatsu she exuded, but he needed to see her to prove to himself she was alright. He thought his heart would burst at when he could finally see her in the distance.

Inoue.

As he approached her, he could see the blood that adorned her clothing. _Was she injured? Did she get hurt in the collapse of the castle? Did that bastard Ulquiorra harm her?_ There was a sour taste in his mouth, and his heart seemed to want to leap into his throat. He looked her up and down, his eyes burning, scanning for any kind of injury. To his relief, there wasn't a scratch on her.

_She really doesn't get hurt, does she_? he thought to himself, remembering how Inoue always touts how hale and hearty she is when anyone inquires as to her well-being. The blood on her was from someone else, hopefully only from the Espada Ichigo was fighting. He could breathe again once he was sure she wasn't bleeding, but it tormented him that she had to experience anything involving bloodshed. The haunted, traumatized look on her face, in her whole posture, was enough to break him. He wanted to pick her up and hold her to him and never let go. Ever.

He wouldn't though, because he was a coward deep down, afraid she wouldn't return the love he felt for her. She loved Kurosaki. Kurosaki, who was completely oblivious to her. Kurosaki, who was so obviously in love with Rukia. He, Uryuu, would love her, cherish her, worship the ground she walked on, but she was totally oblivous to him. Why couldn't she see?

_Love is blind. _He chuckled to himself and pushed his rectangular lenses higher onto the bridge of his nose (it would irk him to know he only did this when some emotion struck him).

He searched for Ichigo's spiritual pressure and couldn't find it. Not even the slightest trace. Kurosaki was dead.

He saw how Inoue took the news, and it ripped his heart from his chest. He hated to see her hurting, but he couldn't go to her, not yet, because it was extremely important to get Rukia to understand: she was still looking for him.

He tried to get her to stop her fruitless search for Ichigo, but Rukia continued despite his insistence he was dead. Even though she was showing a strong front, the look in her eyes as she pulled away from him told Ishida everything: Rukia loved Kurosaki. Ishida had always suspected, but now it was confirmed. He realized had to let her find out for herself, so he didn't pursue the issue when she didn't let up, which was a good thing because Rukia had found his reiatsu and proved to Ishida his bragging rights on sensing reiatsu may be revoked.

It also proved to him love is stronger than anything else in existence.

Then they found him. Kurosaki was in pretty bad shape. Oh, let's not sugar coat it, he looked like he'd been through a meat grinder. If he had come into his father's hospital looking like that, they probably wouldn't even try to revive him--DOA. Ishida couldn't feel his reiatsu and gave him up for dead, so that was already not a good sign, but now he could also make out his zanpakutou. That thing had gone through a shredder. Really not good. He glanced at Inoue to see how she was doing.

Her small, delicate hands were balled up into fists, resting at the base of her throat. Her eyes had lost their sparkle and her body quivered. She looked down at the shinigami in wretched horror. It tore at his heart to see her this way. Afraid and hesitant, but needing to protect and comfort her just the same, Ishida put his hands on Inoue's arms just below her shoulders. He would always be there for her, no matter how she felt for him. No matter that she could kill him and bring him back to life again in one glance, with one word from her lips.

Rukia returned to where they stood and whisked Inoue right out of his grasp and flashed away. He shook his head. He was doomed to love her from afar. It was better that way.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thoughts, flashback and emphasis in italics. I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out--Christmas has me hustling and bustling. I also went back to lookat this chapter and decided it needed something, so it's also a bit different than it was originally written. Hopefully it's better now.

Please review! Pretty please? Anyway, enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: Nope, I'm still not Kubo, and I still don't own Bleach. The story, such as it is, is mine.

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**Chapter 2**

While she was watching Rukia continue her search for Ichigo's reiatsu, Inoue's heart felt as if it would cease. The man she would fall in love with every time if she could live five times over was gone, wasn't he? Even Ishida said he couldn't feel Ichigo's reiatsu. Her power could bring him back, this she knew from before, but what if they couldn't find him under all this mess? What if Aizen had it wrong and her power wasn't unlimited as he thought? How much time would they have to find him before Ichigo was beyond her help? What if it was already too late...?

Then Rukia found his spirit thread. _She found him_, she thought. _Kurosaki-kun_. Inoue felt hope well up within her and ran up the mountain of stone once Rukia yanked Renji up with her, while wishing, strangely, that Aizen was right.

The woman clad uncomfortably in Arrancar garb stood stunned at the edge of the precipice. She watched in horror as Rukia assessed the situation, the motions she went through telling the tale of what she saw down below. Inoue's curled fists found their way to the space in the middle of her collarbone.

"Kurosaki-kun," came in a hushed tone. She thought it was Ishida that had come up behind her and held her, but her mind wasn't sure of anything in this reality right now. She watched Rukia stand up and disappear, only to see her materialize right in front of her. Inoue had just enough time to catch sight of Rukia. The Shinigami had blood all over her and looked as cold and white as a marble statue. Inoue felt Rukia's hand grab hers and the world flew by. The next thing she knew, both of them were down in the crater right next to Ichigo.

She took a moment to regain her balance. Inoue's gaze fell to Ichigo and breathing was no longer possible. Seeing him up close was so, so much worse. Ichigo was sprawled out on his back, his left leg bent eerily backward in a way that the human body wasn't meant to contort. He was bleeding from everywhere, especially from a large gash extending from his lower left abdomen to the right side of his neck, and his eyes...

She shuddered when she saw his eyes. They stared straight ahead, with no life in them. They were the same eyes she saw when Grimmjow brought her to Ichigo to heal him. Yet the state he was in now somehow felt much worse than he was back then. In a moment she understood.

_Zangetsu was still whole last time_, she thought.

Renji and Ishida flashed their own way down into the hole now, while Chad merely jumped off the edge and slid down the rock face of Las Noche's new form. Waiting for Inoue to start her healing technique was torture for all of them.

"What's taking her so long?" murmered Renji impatiently. Covered in dust and small bits of rock, Chad silently walked over, sat down next to Ichigo's head and just stared, in obvious shock. Ishida silently moved to Inoue's side, looking from her to Ichigo.

"Hurry, Inoue. I can't feel his reiatsu any more," came from Rukia in an eerily quiet and calm tone.

In the palm of her hand the remaining thread she held had just completely disintegrated. Rukia knelt down and touched Ichigo's cold cheek with the tips of her fingers. Her delicate hand fell to Ichigo's stilled chest for a fleeting moment. She snatched it away if it had been burned: she couldn't bear to feel the lack of life his body held. She just wanted to run as far as she could or wake from this nightmare. Anything to make this not real. Grimacing, she placed her hands on the ground to steady herself: she had been shaking. The last time she saw someone she loved in that kind of state, she was soon taking Kaien-dono's body hometo his family, and the realization shook Rukia to her core.

"Use the Shun Shun Rikka, Inoue! Quickly!"

The girl gaped in shock at Ichigo, unable to avert her eyes. "Kurosaki-kun," she whimpered. _There's blood everywhere... Kurosaki-kun..._

"INOUE!" Rukia shrieked, overcome by her frusration. With lightning speed, she reached out from over Ichigo and grabbed her by her collar, pulling Inoue's face to hers, shaking her. "Snap out of it, Inoue!"

She stared blankly at Rukia for a second, but then snapped back to her senses.

Rukia loosened her grip, once again completely composed, although the regret for lashing out at her friend was already apparent in her eyes.

The gentle human girl called out her power, the enigmatic Shun Shun Rikka. _If this is all I can do to help this time, it's enough_, Inoue told herself.

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He felt like he was under water. No, more than that, he was being crushed by the force of the ocean as he sunk faster into its depths.

Ichigo was in a sea of black. There was no sound, no air. Nothing. He didn't even seem to have a body: he just was.

_What is this? Where am I_?

He remembered battling Ulquiorra--it got ugly. They were both beaten to a pulp when they finally each gave one last simultaneous attack. There was nothing after that, just that terrible sensation of pressure and black.

_What if he survived_? Ichigo thought about the possibility that Ulquiorra fared better than he did. _Inoue. Is she alright? Did I fail? What if I failed them all? Chad. Ishida. Renji. Rukia._

At that moment, he could see a small pinpoint of light appear far ahead of him. Since there was no judging distance in the blackness, Ichigo couldn't tell just how far away it was.

_Well, they say "don't go into the light" but there's nothing else here to go to. It can't be helped._

Ichigo began to make his way toward it, not walking, rather almost floating, moving only because his consciousness willed it.

The speck of light pulsated as Ichigo approached, possibly because he was getting closer, but he really couldn't tell for sure. _When the hell am I gonna get there? _he asked himself_._

Then, as if in answer, his whole world was blinding, hot light. He didn't shy away but reached for it, craved it, and then felt himself sucked into it.

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They surrounded him, no one speaking a word, letting Inoue concentrate. As if being closer would help somehow, they all remained as near to Ichigo as the shield would allow.

Fear for their friend was palapable in the abyss born of the battle that could possibly take his life--the location was all too fitting. Ishida folded his arms, nervously pushed up his glasses, fumbled with his Quincy cross and started the fidgeting process over again. Chad hadn't moved from where he sat, silent as always. Renji planted Zabimaru's tip into the ground and squatted down, holding his zanpakutou's hilt for balance with his face a mask of worry.

"Don't you break that promise we made before we went off to the fight, Ichigo," Renji scolded his friend under his breath.

_How long has she been at this_? _A few seconds_? _An hour_? Rukia closed her eyes to find her center. Though outwardly she seemed in total control, every inch of her body ached to hold Ichigo in her arms and make all his hurt go away. Rukia breathed, "Ichigo, please... don't die,"

Sweat poured down Inoue's face even though only a few moments had passed since she began her healing.

"I don't have enough to take this back... I... I can't reject this," she moaned, her face twisted with effort and disbelief.

Rukia's eyes widened and darted to Ichigo's motionless form, her face as white as a Hollow's mask.

_No, there has to something else, anything else_. Rukia flew to Inoue's side, grabbed shoulder and instinctively channeled some of her reiatsu to Inoue and the Shun Shun RIkka. "Keep going, Inoue. We'll do this together."

Rukia felt it immediately coming back through their reiatsu: it wasn't going to be enough. She raised the amount of power she was giving Inoue by half.

The air around them began to glow in the presence of all the reiatsu pouring from the two women, with the healing shield at the center. The ground quaked as Inoue felt the weight of all the spirit power being imbued upon her and buckled slightly under its presence.

The quincy watched them, his concern obvious. He cleared his throat and clarified what Rukia already knew, "Be careful, Rukia-san. If Inoue-san can't handle that much reiatsu, she'll lose control and burn out. Give her a little at a time."

Rukia spoke softly to the girl, "Will you try, Inoue?"

Inoue pursed her lips, narrowed her eyes and nodded: she was going to do this for Ichigo.

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Rain pelted him, soaked him. He had a corporeal self again, but it brought no comfort. Ichigo was in his inner world now, and it was crumbling.

"Old Man?" Ichigo called. There was no response.

_Shit, what do I do now_?

Then he caught sight of the Old Man, Zangetsu, stumbling across the cracked landscape of sideways skyscrapers.

"You alright, Old Man?" he moved toward Zangetsu, but his legs felt like they had cinder blocks tied to them. He watched him stagger and crumple to the ground.

"Zangetsu!" Ichigo was concerned enough to use his real name.

"Ichigo," the solitary word escaped from Zangetsu's dry lips.

Then the pain hit. Every wound he'd received while fighting Ulquiorra lit up like the finale of a fireworks display. Blood fell from each and every gash, droplets hitting the ground with a sickening _drip, drip_. It seemed he and Zangetsu may be suffering the same affliction as Ichigo was reduced to crawling the remaining distance between them.

Finally, the young shinigami made it to the avatar's side and using sheer willpower alone, began to lift the Old Man to his feet.

Lying a few feet from Zangetsu was Ichigo's hollow half. Bright red oozed from the corner of his mouth, standing in gruesome contrast to his paper-white skin. Ichigo thought he was going to say something, but he began to cough, blood spewing. Instead, he shot a look filled with contempt at his "King."

_Can_'t _say I blame him._

Once Zangetsu was standing, Ichigo's burst of strength vanished, and they were both leaning on each other.

"We gotta get out of here, Old Man. The place is comin' apart."

Ichigo felt Zangetsu grasp him tightly at the wrist with much more force than someone in his state should have been able to.

"And where is it you think we'll go, Ichigo? Outside of here, there is nothing, as I know you've seen." His eyes shimmered beneath the wide, yellow tinted glasses he's always worn.

"_You_ need to stop the rain, boy."

He knew this was bad. Ichigo could feel it all slipping away beneath the agony. His world was coming to an end.

_Damn, I hate the rain._

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Closing her eyes, Rukia began to slowly pour her reiatsu to Inoue, feeling how she was handling it with each increase. The girl wasn't at her limit... yet.

"Inoue-san, are you alright?" yelled Ishida over the deafening sound of flowing reiatsu echoing in the cavern.

Inoue was determined to do this, to be useful for a change. "Yes," she managed. "Give me more, Rukia-san. I'm ok. I think it'll work."

Rukia's eyes went from Inoue to Ichigo, still lying there, broken. She willed this to work with all her might and gave Inoue the full extent of her reiatsu.

Inoue collapsed. Ayame and Shon'ou both let out small screams as the power level increased.

"Pull back," yelled Ishida, "or Inoue-san is going to overload."

"NO," Inoue insisted, regaining herself, controlling her multiple reiatsu-enhanced power. "Just... a little... longer. I'll say when." Her breathing was now erratic and shallow, but her resolve was even more focused than ever. _Just a little more_, she thought.

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_Now, just how the hell am I going to save our collective asses this time_? he thought.

Ichigo had to admit things looked really bleak. The rain came in torrents, his world was now a maze of its falling pieces, except as the rain came down, his world was actually falling _up_. Pieces of building broke away, flew upward and vanished, sucked into an invisible vortex.

Both he and Zangetsu melted to their knees, the power of the rain overtaking them, actually pinning them to the building. Ichigo struggled against being held down, but his chest felt like it would cave in at any moment, and his limbs were so shattered they barely seemed attached to his body.

There was no saving it. _I failed. I'm not going to be able to bring them home_. He watched as the building beneath him shook and shattered. _I failed them all._ The rain was like knives now, cutting into him. All that was left to Ichigo's inner world was the small area all the versions of himself rested on. Wind whipped around, faster and faster until a tornado took shape, enveloping them and pulling them all upward.

Inoue's crying face came to his mind, standing on the pillar far above him. "Don't die, Kurosaki-kun," she'd begged him.

_I'm sorry, Inoue. I think dying might be exactly what I'm doing._

Rukia, that damned midget, popped into his mind. He couldn't even die in peace without her invading his brain. What would she think of him dying? She'd probably be pissed.

_"Are you so weak as to let minor things like that affect your heart?!"_

Ichigo tensed. He recalled how Rukia set him straight when she came back from Soul Society, after he first fought with Yammy, back when he feared the hollow inside.

_"Does defeat frighten you? Or what about failing to save your companions?"_

He was afraid again. Afraid of failure. He couldn't live with himself if he failed.

"_If it was about defeat, then you just need to train harder. If it was about your companions, then you just need to reseal those promises after becoming a more virtuous man... Even if you can't rely on anyone else just pull yourself together and roar!"_

He understood now. Ichigo apparently needed to relearn this lesson and would probably need to be taught again and again: completely letting go of one's fears was no easy task.

_I can't be afraid to fail. You were right, Rukia. I still haven't learned, but I'm not giving up. Time to pull myself together._

Ichigo hadn't failed his friends, at least not yet. He wasn't about to be paralyzed by the very real possibility of failure. The pain was still excruciating, but he had no fear. The pressure in his chest sought to crush him, but Ichigo wasn't afraid. The storm began to subside. He thought he could hear Zangetsu chuckling softly at his side.

For the first time since entering Hueco Mundo, Ichigo's soul was still.

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Ichigo showed no signs of life and they were both at their maximum. Rukia felt panic crawl up into her heart and take residence. It wasn't going to work. Ichigo wasn't going to revive, and for the shinigami that was just too much to bear. The front she so painstakingly erected for herself vanished.

"No," Rukia hoarsely whispered. Then louder, with unbridled anguish, "No, you can't die!"

She completely lost her composure, "Ichigo!" she sobbed, as the tears spilled from her eyes, "Please!"

The emotion she allowed herself to express caused her reiatsu to flare even higher than she thought she was capable of. The shock of extreme reiatsu from Rukia was too much as it went through Inoue, and she let out a scream of intense pain, barely holding on.

"Inoue!" Ishida called to her as he, Renji and Chad all fell to their knees, overwhelmed by the reiatsu pouring out of Rukia.

A flash of white light enveloped them, and Rukia threw her arms in front if her face: the extra spirit power caused the shield to flare so brightly that everyone had to avert their eyes. Rukia immediately forced herself to look back upon Ichigo while they still had flash spots in them. She prayed she wasn't going insane, that she caught some sort of movement from the man in the shield. Squinting her eyes, she tried to clear her vision and get a good look at the fallen shinigami, making sure she wasn't deceived.

Ichigo's chest hitched. Rukia's grip on Inoue's shoulder tightened so much that an hour later the marks would still be dug into her skin.

"Ichigo," she breathed softly.

He took a short, wet, rickety breath. Then another. He began to gasp and cough and sputter and closed his eyes. There was a collective exhale of held breath from the five people gathered around their gravely injured, but very much alive, friend. Ichigo's breathing quickly began to even out and the wounds all over his body, even the largest one across his chest, began to heal. To their astonishment, Zangetsu's shards dissipated into spirit particles and reformed the ever-present shikai form once again.

"You can let go now, Rukia-san. I can take it from here," Inoue sighed, crying and smiling at the same time.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last 2 chapters. This is my first fic so I really would like some comments, good or bad. If you're reading, please review.

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**Chapter 3**

She was healing him now, and as painful and exhausting as healing him was, Inoue was smiling because she was so utterly happy that Ichigo was alive. That smile, although genuine, betrayed her inner turmoil, because even though he was alive, she was reflecting on something else that had died here in this pit.

In the moment Rukia's reiatsu surged, that Rukia pleaded with Ichigo to live, Inoue realized that she and Ichigo would never be. She always knew in her heart Ichigo and Rukia were in love, even if they didn't realize it yet (they were both really dense that way). As long as they were in denial, though, she thought she had a chance with Kurosaki, but now that chance was gone.

She confessed her own love to Ichigo before she left for Hueco Mundo, but he'd been asleep. Even then, when he was sleeping and she thought she would never see him again, she couldn't even find the courage to kiss him.

Sure she begged Ichigo to stop fighting for her with Grimmjow, but she didn't fight to help him so he wouldn't get so injured in the first place. When Nnoitra and Tesla beat Ichigo within an inch of his life right in front of her, she still let fear take over and did nothing. The same with his battle against Ulquiorra. She had no resolve to fight, even for the man she loved, and Inoue truly hated herself for this. She had merely watched the man she claimed to love get severely beaten over and over again.

Rukia had fought side-by-side with Ichigo, but not only that, she would never have allowed Ichigo to be beaten down in front of her and stand idly by. Rukia would find a way to help him, to fight with him, _for_ him. She fought for him against even common sense when she refused to stop believing in Ichigo, even when Ishida and the rest of them had given up.

Inoue'd never seen Rukia cry, didn't even think it was possible, but she cried over Ichigo and her reiatsu erupted like a tsunami through their link. That was the wave of energy that changed his fate: Ichigo was alive because she loved him that deeply.

Sadly, Inoue knew what she felt for Ichigo wasn't like that; it lacked that sort of bond where you put could yourself in harm's way for the other. Ichigo would die trying to protect her, but Inoue did not have that in her. She could tell herself all day that fighting wasn't her nature, but she knew different. All along it was Inoue herself that was keeping them apart. She knew if her love was strong enough for Ichigo, she could transcend her normal limitations, just like Rukia's reiatsu reached new heights. Rukia and Ichigo: their connection was deep, and she had no right to try to disrupt that connection even if they didn't know how deep it ran. It was so much more than a passing proclamation of love you only have the guts to declare when the recipient is passed out.

The realization hit her hard. She'd mourn the loss, but for now Inoue was just so glad Ichigo was still living.

She needed to stop thinking about it for a while so she allowed her mind to wander. Inoue conjured up a new culinary masterpiece in her head, involving red bean paste, chocolate and marshmellows. She'd make it for everyone to celebrate once they returned from Hueco Mundo. Rukia would wear that pretty dress Ishida-kun made for her. Maybe she could invite some of her shinigami friends, too, like Matsumoto-san and Yachiru-chan?

Then her mind went briefly to something else, something that confused her. Why had Ishida looked at her that way when they found her? His eyes were so intense, and his lips were smashed into a tight line on his thin face. She could tell he was checking to see if she was hurt, but there was something that puzzled her in his eyes. Was he _that _worried about her? He'd held her, too, once they found Kurosaki-kun. His hands were holding her arms gently, and his face was right beside hers, so close she could feel the rims of his glasses brushing her cheek.

She thought she saw that look on his face before, but she couldn't remember when. _That's it_, Inoue thought,_ I'm starting to get delirious_.

Healing Kurosaki-kun was exhausting her, and let's not mention how drained she was from handling Rukia's insane reiatsu. It was slow going healing the injury he took to his chest, partially because of the severity of the wound and partially because it's as quickly as she could go. Inoue shut her eyes and let her head fall slowly backward while scrunching up her shoulders and stretching her neck muscles.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Ishida, Chad and Renji standing atop the remnants of Las Noches in various positions keeping watch: they were in Hueco Mundo, so they still needed to be vigilant. Renji-kun said that much reiatsu should send _something _in their direction. For a split second, though, she thought Ishida was watching her from his post, but was interrupted from this thought by Rukia's approach.

"Inoue," Rukia broke the silence as she sat down next to her friend, examining Inoue's angrily welted palms, "your hands... If you want, I think you can stop now. I should be able to heal him the rest of the way. I have a few medical provisions with me. Hanatarou provided them before I left Soul Society."

_He caught her right before she left for Hueco Mundo. Nii-sama had already seen her, giving her cloaks for their protection, and she and Renji were prepared to leave immediately. He was panting as he approached her._

_"Rukia-san! Rukia-san, wait!"_

_"Hanatarou, what are you doing?" Rukia asked impatiently. Time wasn't on her side. Ichigo had already entered Hueco Mundo on his own, the idiot._

_"Rukia-san, you're going somewhere dangerous, aren't you? You're meeting up with Ichigo-san, too." That wasn't a question. She wondered how he figured it out. "I have something for you, Rukia-san. It's all I could scrape up in such short time." He held out what looked like a half-full 4th Squad medicine pouch._

_"Take it. Ichigo-san will always fight for his friends. He'll fight for you especially, Rukia-san, so you take care. I figured he'll probably get beat up badly again, and no one from Fourth Squad will be there to heal him. You'll need to have this with you," Hanatarou said confidently as he finally caught his breath. In a second or two, as if realizing what he'd said, he once again resumed his normal sheepish expression, not used to asserting himself._

_She blinked at this words, warmed by his kindness, but taken aback a little by what he said about Ichigo fighting especially for her. What could that mean?_

_"Alright, I'll take it with me. Thank you, Hanatarou."_

Rukia began removing bandages from her pouch to show Inoue.

"No, Rukia-san," the girl went into near spastics, bobbing up and down as she spoke, "I can do this. I'm ok! I'm used to getting hurt all the time, but I always bounce right back! You don't need to worry about it. An... OW!" She was brought out of her lively explanation by the weakness in her body and throbbing in her hands. They were on fire and she felt faint and nauseous, but it was obvious she was going to stay there and heal Ichigo no matter how badly it hurt her.

Rukia reached out to help her when she showed her pain. Inoue shrugged her off and said firmly but quietly, "No. I'm going to finish. I want...I owe it to him."

Rukia sighed, "Ok." Then a pause. "I'm... I'm sorry, Inoue. I didn't mean to grab you like that earlier."

She nodded at the shinigami, offering up one of her sweet smiles, "It's ok, Rukia-san. I understand."

Once she saw Rukia relax a little, Inoue quickly looked back to her charge. What she had to say was hard enough; she couldn't do it looking directly at Rukia. "Rukia-san, you never once gave up on Kurosaki-kun, did you? We all gave up. You kept believing in him."

The shinigami cocked her head to the side, not sure where this was going.

Inoue breathed deeply and began the hardest thing she's ever had to say in her life, "Your love for him wouldn't let you give up."

Rukia started, "Inoue..." Rukia already knew how Inoue felt toward Ichigo so it hurt her deeply to hear her friend now. Her heart broke for her: Rukia completely understood what her friend was giving up.

"You love him. It's obvious." Inoue now had tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She choked the rest out between sobs. "Rukia-san, it's okay. Kurosaki-kun always keeps me at a distance, but you're so close to him: he confides in you. Besides, I think he feels that way for you, too."

Rukia had been denying how she felt for Ichigo for so long that he had to literally die for her to finally admit her love for him to herself. Still, it was strange to hear Inoue say it aloud. Although no one else had said anything yet, Rukia was sure it was apparent to everyone now after that whole episode.

"Thank you, Inoue." Rukia gave her friend a weary, knowing smile and looked back down at the man she was desperate to hold. He was resting comfortably, the color in his cheeks had returned, his body was no longer mangled and torn to shreds. All that remained was just the one severe cut across his torso, and even that was halfway healed. Her smile faded as she stared at his shredded chest and thought about how close she came to losing him. The tears started to burn her eyes as she held them back, biting her lip.

How close it was to Kaien all over again. The same dead eyes looked at her, through her, then. The same color blood was on her hands. Although she hadn't been the one to draw his blood, she came just as close to failing the man she loved. Ichigo almost didn't make it, was so dangerously close to never coming back, and Rukia knew she would have forever blamed herself for not being able to save him. She would be doomed to live another lifetime of what-ifs and if-onlys.

The Novena Espada, that disgusting bastard hollow whose name would never cross her lips as long as she lived, had used her own insecurities and regrets against her in the form of Kaien-dono. However, he had done her a favor in the end, brought her some much-needed closure. Kaien-dono's heart was always with her and now, the hollow who captured his soul had been killed and purified. Kaien was free.

With Ichigo, at the last possible moment, she was finally true to herself, finally allowed herself to_ feel_, and that made the difference--she saved Ichigo and saved herself in the process. It liberated her soul. This time Rukia wouldn't be carrying a body back to the Kurosaki family. This time the man she loved _survived_ because of her.

She'd always wondered if Ichigo's resemblance to Kaien had been some sick cosmic joke, as if she was destined to be haunted by her past failure. By some strange twist of fate, today she saved both the men who were so important to her. Maybe her love wasn't the death sentence she had made it out to be.

"Mmnnn... ugh," came from Ichigo as his eyes fluttered open. He immediately started trying to push himself up on his elbows, realizing he was in Inoue's healing shield.

"Inoue," a sigh gently left his blood-caked lips, satisfied that she was here and safe.

"Kurosaki-kun!" the relief in Inoue's voice obvious.

He smiled warmly at her and turned his head to the other side of him, not at all surprised to see Rukia kneeling close.

"Oi, Rukia..." started Ichigo weakly. He was about to say something sarcastic, but he decided otherwise once he got a good look at her. Her eyes were red and puffy: she'd definitely been crying. _Rukia was crying? _He quickly looked over at Inoue to see she was looking quite haggard and furrowed his brow more deeply than usual, a little strength returning to his voice in concern, "Is everyone ok?"

"We're all fine. You should worry more about yourself. Be quiet and still, idiot, and rest while Inoue heals you." Rukia scolded, her voice shaky, although she didn't really sound_ too _angry. They both looked down at him, and he saw that the two women looked terrible.

_I must not have been a pretty sight when they got here_, he thought.

Ichigo reluctantly laid back down, doing as he was told, and closed his eyes. Sleep would come easily, and boy, could he use it. Anyway, judging by the Rukia's tone, it seemed the prudent thing to do.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Don't worry, there'll be action in the next chapter. Right now, in the short amount of quiet time they have, our guys are having to deal with some issues. I've got up to chapter 6 in second draft-type format, and I'm tweaking the story daily. I'm debating whether or not to continue the story past what I have written as of now. If I do, there may be longer waits between updates. As long as you'll bear with me, I'll do it. :)

As always, please review. I can take anything you want to dish out.

Disclaimer: Bleach is not mine, but the story is.­­­

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**Chapter 4**

He looked down at her just in time to see her Soten Kisshun ripple and waver. He started moving before he could see it disperse. Then she fell forwards, barely catching herself with her forearms to protect her burned hands. Inoue nearly passed out from sheer exhaustion and pain, and Ishida was right there.

"Inoue-san!" his concern for her clear in his voice.

She clumsily waved him off and poised herself to continue. Her body swayed as she fought to regain her balance.

Rukia was already examining her with limited kidou available to her after healing Kurosaki. "It couldn't be helped," Rukia let an exasperated sigh escape as she looked her over. "I told you to let me do it." She grabbed Inoue at her wrists. "Inoue, you're going to stop now." That was an order.

"But..." Inoue started.

"No buts, Inoue, you can't keep this up," Rukia scolded. "You will rest. Now."

"Please, Inoue-san," the quincy practically begged her. "Rukia will finish with Kurosaki. He'll be fine."

Their gazes met, and Inoue's eyes grew under Ishida's stare. There was a reluctant, barely noticable nod of her head in the affirmative. The girl looked so defeated as she attempted to get to her feet, but her legs were like jelly so she sunk back down to the hard floor. She was sheer embarrassment and fatigue as she looked at Rukia and Ishida for help.

Without thinking (if he had thought about it, he would never have done it) and careful of her hands, Ishida lifted Inoue gently into his arms.

_She didn't have to keep on healing him after a certain point. Rukia offered to take over. Why does she sacrifice herself like this_? He studied her hands, which she awkwardly held palm-side up on her stomach. He winced when he saw the blisters and red blotches covering them. _Why do you do this, Inoue_?

Ishida already knew why. It was the just way she was, so caring and selfless. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much. She'd done the same for him in Soul Society, blocking him from injury when they fell from the sky after they succeeded in entering the Seireitei. He had bandaged her up while she was unconscious from protecting the both of them from the fall.

She always put herself last so it wasn't surprising that Inoue had protected him at her own expense. He felt so inadequate knowing that he hadn't done that for her instead of the other way around, especially because she was injured because of it. He made a promise to himself right there that he would protect her from then on.

Ishida remembered being with only Inoue while searching for Rukia. It was sweetly torturous, divinely painful. If he didn't die in battle, that delicious agony was destined to kill him.

He'd nearly come out of his skin when she began to undress in front of him to change into their "borrowed" shinigami uniforms. Getting them was a great plan on her part; Ishida had to admit he was genuinely impressed. She was truly smart, third overall in her class, even if she was prone to having some rather peculiar thoughts and ideas. The concoctions she brought to lunch were sometimes downright scary. Yeah, she had her moments, her quirks, but Ishida loved that about her, too: the dichotomy always intriguing him, keeping him on his toes.

He couldn't capitalize on having her to himself, though, when they stormed Soul Society. They were there for a reason--to rescue Rukia--and his satisfaction was secondary to that. He couldn't help but wonder what would have happpened had he opened up to here there. _She probably would have completely ignored me while daydreaming of Kurosaki_, Ishida thought ruefully.

"Ishida, bring her over there," Rukia pointed to a spot free of debris and walked towards a pile of clothes off to the side.

He carried her a little ways away from Kurosaki where Rukia had indicated. Inoue had kept her head down, her eyes from view the entire time. _She thinks she's useless again_, Ishida thought. _When will she realize she's important to... us?_

In the depths of his heart, that last word was _me_.

The shinigami returned with her Nii-sama's cloaks. As Rukia folded one into a pillow and placed it on the ground, Ishida laid Inoue down gingerly and proceeded to unfold the other cloak. He laid it over her. She rolled over onto her left side and tucked herself into a ball: she was sleeping immediately. Ishida smiled a little, thinking Inoue was Inoue even in the way she slept. He didn't want to disturb her rest, but he stayed a brief moment, straightening out the cloak and just watching her sleep.

He observed Rukia starting to slowly bandage Inoue's hands. Ishida would have stayed until Inoue awakened if they were alone, but he couldn't handle the scrutiny (real or imagined) of his friends had he shown that much concern for her. He was sure carrying her already raised enough suspicion.

The quincy decided instead to see how Kurosaki was coming along. He saw the Abarai and Sado were about to do the same.

The injured shinigami's back was propped up against a smooth section of stone in the ruins of Las Noches; Ichigo was too weak to sit up himself. He woke shortly after Inoue collapsed and felt horribly guilty. Before he could say anything, Rukia saw right into his soul and told him to stop blaming himself, that Inoue was a big girl who could make her own decisions.

Still, the subsitute shinigami was relieved to see Inoue safe and everyone else had made it according to the oath they took in the beginning of their journey. He was glad they were with him, even if it meant the guys were going to do their share of ballbusting.

"Ichigo," said Chad, still slightly concerned, "you were beat up pretty good."

"Oi, Kurosaki, you let that Espada give it to you, eh?" Ishida chimed in sarcastically.

Ichigo got riled up as always, a vein popping out on his forehead, and glared at Ishida with one eye twitching, "GODDAMN IDIOT! You don't see him up and around, do you?" He coughed, grabbing at his chest wound, which wasn't fully healed, while never taking his eyes off Ishida. The quincy smirked, satisfied Ichigo would be just fine.

"I don't see you up and around, either, Strawberry. Hurry up and get rested," teased Renji. "We're tired of protecting your ass!"

Ichihgo's face grew bright red at that remark, and Renji was going to make some crack about a tomato and a carrot, but he was interrupted when Rukia stormed over.

With no hesitation at all, Rukia shoved Chad and Ishida with one hand each and turned with tiny balled up fist, which landed square in Renji's stomach.

"IDIOTS! Do you see Inoue trying to rest over there? With you carrying on over here, just how is she supposed to do that?" Rukia laid into them all, her face twitching. "Ichigo is going to be fine, as you can see, not that you _act_ like you care, so get yourselves back up there and keep watch!" Rukia left in a huff to go back to Inoue and put the finishing touches on her banadages.

Renji sulked his way back to the top of the crater, and Ishida stole a glance at Inoue, almost as if he wanted to go check on her, but decided against it and followed Renji. Before Chad joined them, he knelt next to Ichigo.

"You worried me, Ichigo. All of us... especially Rukia."

Ichigo peered up at him, saying nothing.

"Your reiatsu was gone, and Zangetsu was shattered," replied Chad quietly. "You were about dead. Rukia had to help Inoue bring you back." He explained the details of his healing, the way Rukia linked up with Inoue and her burst of reiatsu at the end without divulging Rukia's emotional outburst. That was her story to tell should she choose to tell it.

Ichigo blinked and peered down at his zanpakutou, remembering Zangetsu's battered state. _Well, at least that confirms it, why I feel both of their reiatsu in the healing of my wounds_.

Chad continued, snapping Ichigo from his thoughts, "There was no trace of your reiatsu anywhere, but Rukia wouldn't give up. She finally found your reiatsu, even when," Chad's voice ever so slightly hitched, but he cleared his throat and continued, "even when Ishida couldn't, and he told her you were gone. We all thought that was it, and I don't know where she found the resolve to keep searching, but she did. I truly don't know how she felt anything at all, but she fought to find you, and she did."

"Rukia's the reason you're still here," he finished matter-of-factly.

"Thanks, Chad," was all Ichigo could think of to say. The big guy merely nodded and walked back up to his post.

Rukia, who called him idiot all the time, who was always laying into him for every little thing, wouldn't give up on him. He was by all accounts dead, but she was just that stubborn. _Why did you keep looking, Rukia? What did you think you could do? Don't get me wrong, this time I'm grateful you're so damn pigheaded._

She was always worried about him, too, which really annoyed him. Even if he didn't already know, Ichigo could tell just from the look on Rukia's face when he woke up that this time was worth worrying about, but for Chad to actually say something about it, about his condition, about what lengths Rukia took...

Chad wasn't one to waste words.

He peeked over at Rukia while she checked on Inoue. She moved so gracefully (he was always reminded of falling snow when he watched her). She tended to Inoue so gently, as if she had missed her calling and should have been in Sqaud Four.

People thought Rukia was cold and aloof, but she had a soft, feminine side if you took the time to see it. She built up walls, barriers, mountains to hide it, teased and hit like the guys, but Ichigo could always see right through her.

In this moment, her fragility flashed like a beacon before him and made his chest tighten; how small she was in a world where enemies scraped the sky. You couldn't help but want to protect someone so petite, so...

Ichigo let out a sigh, _Someone so broken._ There was the thinly-masked pain Ichigo couldn't miss when he looked into her eyes, the pain he longed to ease for her so badly--the pain he knew all too well. Ichigo hated that she was so like him, hated his fate was her fate, as well--he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy. Even when she presented him a rare, breathtaking smile, some unknown torment was lurking beneath the surface, preventing her from experiencing true joy.

It was probably why she knew exactly what to say to him, what to do when he was having trouble.

Rukia caught Ichigo staring at her, raised her eyebrows and gave him a cutesy little smirk before she turned back to Inoue. Ichigo noticed, in that split second, instead of drowning in misery (oh, it was still there--pain like that never truly leaves), Rukia's eyes were positively luminous, dancing. In fact, she glowed.

Then it dawned on him, like a long forgotten memory emerging from the bottom of his subconscious. Rukia's reiatsu signature was tied up in his body from healing, but that wasn't all.

_"So now what, Old Man? I stopped the damn storm in here, but I'm still hurting bad. I'm still dying, aren't I?"_

_"Ah, Ichigo, a little faith in your friends wouldn't hurt," Zangetsu chided him. "Do you really think they'd let you die here, that they wouldn't do everything possible to save you as you would them? As we speak, I believe Inoue is healing you. Do you not feel that?"_

_Ichigo could feel Inoue's reiatsu flowing through him, but initially thought he was mistaken because the warmth, the life he normally felt while under her shield was missing. Strangely, he could also feel Rukia's reiatsu working through his body._

_"It isn't working, though, is it?"_

_"Faith, Ichigo."_

_What happened next astonished him. He found he could feel the bank of Rukia's emotion running through him along with her power. Ichigo could feel complete desperation, fierce sorrow marring Rukia's reiatsu. It was if she was dying herself except the power she was sending grew... and grew. Her reiatsu hit him like a jolt of electricity, a lightning strike to complete the passing of the rain._

_"What's with this reiatsu?" he asked himself aloud, full knowing Rukia never let out a pulse that strong. It was then Ichigo realized the burning weight had been lifted off his chest so he could breathe._

_There was something else about Rukia's reiatsu, something else interwined that left him feeling content, warm, alive..._

Rukia, that obstinate little shinigami, found his reiatsu when even Ishida couldn't. She wouldn't accept his death and in all actuality, had brought him back to life, hadn't she?

_Why didn't I notice this?_ Ichigo brought his palm to his forehead and rolled his eyes._ I really am that dense._

Ichigo chuckled and laced his fingers through the back of his orange hair. The shinigami laid back with his head on his hands while a ghost of a smile played on his lips. He was going to have to have a little chat with that girl.

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Rukia watched over Inoue as she lay with the makeshift pillow of Rukia's cloak and Renji's cloak covering her. It would take some time for her to recover after the exertion of accepting so much reiatsu and healing Ichigo, so going anywhere would depend on how quickly she could get moving. Rukia contemplated having the group carry both Inoue and Ichigo to a different location to buy them some time, but decided against it as it would leave them all more vulnerable while moving. They had no choice to carry Ichigo for the time being.

She wasn't concerned yet, but they had to get moving soon. All sorts of Hollow and Arrancar or worse were still out there, and the size of the reiatsu earlier released from this area should act as a lighthouse to lead them here.

Rukia stood up and brushed herself off. She flashed to Renji atop the pile of debris.

"It's too quiet, Renji," she observed.

Renji peered down at Rukia, "I know. Something should have been here by now, with the kind of reiatsu you two put out." He thought for a moment and offered a theory. "Maybe they're all off fighting in the human world with Aizen?"

Rukia thought about this. "Could be, or maybe they're waiting, planning the execution of their attack." She scrutenized the horizion. " I don't like this. I just hope we're out of here soon enough that we don't have to find out who is right."

The winds of Hueco Mundo kicked up, whipping Rukia's shihakushou about her as Renji studied his longtime friend. It was funny; he was stronger, higher in rank than Rukia, but Renji still deferred to her. With Rukia you really didn't have much choice, but Renji liked to think he did it out of respect for her.

Renji stared down at his friend for a few moments while she was peering out into the distance. "That's not all that's bothering you, is it, Rukia?" Even when they were young scamps running amok in the Rukongai, Renji knew when she was troubled.

Rukia wasn't completely surprised at his inquiry, but it startled her nonetheless. "Renji?" she questioned, searching his thoughts.

He sighed heavily. "I guess I'll just come out and say it myself, Rukia, since you're too proud to bring it up. Just like a noble," Renji jabbed, watching Rukia scowl as he chuckled. He stopped, trying to ignore how painful this was for him, and sorted out what he was going to say. "We all saw what happened earlier so there's no need to hide it. That substitute shinigami is a pest and a pain, but you have feelings for him anyway. Why, I don't have a clue, but you don't have to worry about what any of us here think." He winked.

Dumbfounded, Rukia stood there gaping.

"Eh, Rukia," remarked Renji, "you look ridiculous with that expression on your face. Don't act so surprised."

She placed her hand on Renji's and smiled warmly. She didn't think she was searching for his approval, but now that she had it, Rukia was relieved. "Thank you, Renji." She turned to look down at where Ichigo lay and flashed down to him.

When Rukia left to go to Ichigo, and he was sure she wasn't watching, Renji's shoulders rounded as he hung his head for a moment, his flaming red hair standing out against the black sky. If he'd only followed his own advice, his friendship with Rukia could've evolved into something more, but he would always be a tramp without the courage to jump up and grab his star.

Renji swore under his breath, "If you ever hurt her, Ichigo..."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Think Al Pacino a la Scarface to get the feel of Alejandro speaking. That's who I kept hearing, anyway.

A change of plans. I think I'm going to make this story a bit longer, even though I could conceivably end it in a few chapters. That will probably mean updates won't be as quick as I'd like... for continuity and such. All I can say about this chappy is that it's completely devoted to IchiRuki and everything's coming to a head.

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**Chapter 5**

Lost in thought, Ichigo stared up through the opening of the crater while he processed what happened since they entered in Hueco Mundo: his battles with the Arrancar, the Espada... So far, his nakama have all made it through, and Inoue was safe with them. For that he was truly thankful.

He kept returning to the fact that he was dead, even if it was only for a moment.

Ichigo didn't have a healthy fear of death like he thought normal people should. When it came to protecting those he cared about he completely lost his sense of self-preservation. His fear of failure, though, of letting those he cared about down, would be much more difficult to tame. He thought of how Yuzu and Karin and even is psychotic dad would take it if he'd died, and just the notion was enough to give his heart that sick, heavy feeling. He figured at least that was normal.

_I was freakin' dead_, he reflected. _Zangetsu was in pieces, and there was nothing left of my spirit. If I get all angry at myself, Rukia would take it upon herself to whip me into shape. Maybe I should just count myself lucky that they found me when they did.... that Rukia..._

"Ichigo," her voice pulled him out of his thoughts but he didn't look directly at her.

"How are you?" Rukia asked gently. She could always tell when something was troubling him, couldn't she?

"Eh, I feel like I've been chopped up into little bits and I can barely move. My chest hurts, but it's liveable," he replied gruffly. "How's Inoue?" he asked in the same harsh tone, hoping to change the subject.

Ichigo could see when she raised her eyebrow and gave him that knowing look that Rukia wasn't buying it, but she answered his question. "She'll be ok with a little more rest, Ichigo," replied the dark-haired shinigami as she wrapped her hands around the collar of his robes.

Rukia seemed to be uncomfortable, hesitating. Her face was contorted in a way Ichigo never witnessed before. Ichigo was about to ask what was wrong when she unceremoniously tugged top of his kosode and shitagi over his shoulders to his waist.

Ichigo's cheeks burned. "W-wha-what are you doing?" he stammered as he feebly tried to cover himself back up with his tattered robes.

Rukia didn't even hesitate to smack him upside the head. "I have to bandage you up, fool, or do you intend to stay like this forever?"

Ichigo grumbled under his breath.

Rukia resumed positioning his shihakushou away from the injured area, now blushing a bit herself. Before today, she probably wouldn't have had any difficulty doing this, tending to Ichigo's wound. However, now that Rukia admitted this was love, she could barely keep the bandages from falling out of her shaking hands. _Stop acting like a silly schoolgirl_, she chided herself. _He's the same Ichigo._

The only problem was that _she wasn't the same Rukia_.

"You know full well I wasn't asking about your physical state. That I can see for myself." She began wrapping a bandage around the top of his stomach at the base of his wound. Ichigo winced from the pain of being touched anywhere remotely close to that gash down his middle. She drew her breath sharply as if she was in pain herself and stopped, but Ichigo grasped her hand in his.

"Neh, it's ok, Rukia. You gotta do this or it's never going to heal."

Not letting go of her, Ichigo sighed and looked at Rukia intensely. "I was dead, Rukia. If anything different happened, something had happened to Inoue or you, I wouldn't be here. I'm not fine with that. It was too close."

Rukia held Ichigo's gaze for only a brief moment (she would find herself lost in his eyes if she didn't look away). She slowly pulled her hand out of his and then continued wrapping, moving up to his chest, "I'd be more worried if you _were_ fine with it." Rukia leaned in close to get the bandage around him, speaking softly, "Just don't close yourself off to us, Ichigo. Nakama take care of each other."

Rukia continued her work, and Ichigo found himself staring a hole into the ground. He could feel her light breath tickling his shoulder as she leaned into him, and he blushed again. He didn't dare move, didn't even think about looking up. She was almost finished tending to him when he spoke. It took more courage than fighting a thousand hollow at once, and Ichigo just barely managed to whisper, "You took care of me... Rukia."

He sensed a slight pause in her work on him, but she resumed wrapping more bandages over his shoulder to cover the part of his wound closest to his neck. She said nothing, but she didn't try to beat him to a pulp for saying anything so he went on. Losing his nerve as each new syllable escaped his lips, he fumbled, "Chad... Chad told me," he said. "You... you didn't give... give up on me, you..."

Just as dreadfully uncomfortable as Ichigo so obviously was, Rukia flushed at his observation as she cut him off, "Of course I didn't give up on you, fool. I only did what you would've done for any of us."

She began to check how secure the bandages were. When her hands got to the middle of his chest, Rukia heard a slight gasp from Ichigo and assumed he was still tender there. She felt Ichigo breathe in deep, the sensation drove shivers down her spine and made her heart want to explode. Realizing she'd let her hands linger there for too long to merely be checking bandage integrity, she began to let them fall away. To her surprise and delight, Ichigo caught them and held them firm against him despite the pain, which brought her wide violet eyes back to his.

"Thank you... Rukia."

With absolutely no warning, the air around them filled with dense, malevolent spiritual pressure and Rukia's eyes displayed her shock. _Of course it had to be now, _she lamented.

They all felt it. The ground began to shake with some enormous reiatsu. No, _reiatsus_. They appeared out of nowhere, like they had somehow flashed from a great distance away or come through a hole in the fabric of reality. What ever they were and however they got there, they were coming toward them.

Ichigo tried to get to his feet as Rukia pulled, but he was still too weak, and it hurt to move. He heard Ishida say, "Sado, let's lead them away from here," and felt Ishida and Chad's reiatsus' gain distance on their location, heading, from what he could tell from the bottom of this hole, west. Renji appeared as he flash-stepped seemingly out of nowhere, quickly hefted a now very awake Inoue over his shoulder before she could protest and used shunpo again to escape in the opposite direction.

Rukia continued to try to help Ichigo stand so they could leave, but at the last moment something told her to push Ichigo away and immediately jump backward just before a huge, white foot came crashing into the crater they'd taken shelter in.

Unfortunately, not all of the hollow followed Ishida and Chad.

"RUKIA!" Ichigo screamed for her, waiting for a response.

"It's Menos, Ichigo," she affirmed, speaking across the gigantic foot between them. "Please, use any strength you have to try to get out of here," Rukia pleaded, knowing Ichigo would stubbornly try to fight though he could barely move. "Please, Ichigo," she begged him, "Don't be an idiot," as she flashed out of the hole in the ruins.

Rukia disappeared to the outside, and Ichigo could hear the sounds of her engaging the huge Gillian. He struggled to stand, but his legs gave way beneath him, unable to accept his weight.

"Get up, damn you," he cursed his failing body.

He could do nothing but feel for everyone's reiatsu. Chad and Ishida were moving away from him and what felt like multiple hollow were right with them, but they seemed to be ok for now. Renji's reiatsu was steady, as was Inoue's; Renji didn't seem to be in a fight and was gaining distance from all the hollow reiatsu Ichigo could make out. Hopefully he'd find a new hiding spot to protect Inoue should anything follow them.

All his attention was now centered on Rukia, as he felt more Gillian and lesser hollow closing in._ How many of them are there_? Suddenly, the sky above him glowed red.

"Shit. Cero," he breathed. Ichigo's head shot up as he searched the sky for Rukia. He was just able to glimpse her slicing the mask of the Gillian before it shot off it's Cero. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief that was short-lived. Hollow were still coming, and he felt something stronger than the Gillian nearby.

He needed to get moving, but as much as he fought and pleaded with, even berated his body, it still would not cooperate.

Ichigo felt Rukia's reiatsu fluctuate wildly as eerie howl of the Menos filled his ears.

_C'mon, Rukia, win_, he willed.

Nothing was worse than the helplessness he felt in this moment, not being able to do anything to aid Rukia. She hadn't fully recovered her reiatsu, that much he knew. He dug his hands into his hakama in frustration.

Rukia felt more hollow and Menos Grande enter the near vicinity of her battle with the first Gillian, but she couldn't pay attention to that right now. _This one first_, she coached herself. _They'll still be there when I'm done_. She was desperate to keep everything away from Ichigo, as he was in absolutely no shape to do anything.

Rukia saw the red energy begin to pool in front of the Meno's face. Knowing she had only a very short window to do something about it, she flashed up to the thing's head, slicing it cleanly with her Sode No Shirayuki. The Gillian roared as it discipated into tiny spirit particles.

With no time to enjoy her victory, she could feel more Gillian and something with a more powerful reiatsu approach her. Spinning on her heels in midair, Rukia came face-to-face with two more lumbering Menos, and her eyes grew at the sight of an Arrancar centered directly behind of them.

It's broken mask was vaguely shaped like the tip crocodile's nose, like a vizor lined with teeth, resting on his forehead. Not at all like the garb of the current Espada, his white clothing clung to him like a second skin, and the V-neck line plunged down to just below his breastbone, revealing a heavily-muscled chest covered in wisps of dark brown hair. A thick red obi was tied around his waist for mere decoration--there was nothing on his outfit that needed tying. His most disturbing feature was freakish black eyes with no discernable pupils that seemed bigger than they should be on his angular face.

The Arrancar was directing the movement of the Gillian, organizing their normally haphazard approach. She could make out the outline of more--lots more--Menos and hollow on the horizon behind them.

_So that's why they didn't act on instinct, seeking out any sign of reiatsu. This guy was forming them into an army._

A few Gillian at a time wouldn't have been a too much of problem for Rukia in her reiatsu-weakened state; two with countless more to follow and an Arrancar thrown in the mix, however, would prove a challenge. The huge Gillian weren't fast, but one direct hit from a Cero from any of them, and it was all over.

Rukia uttered a mirthless laugh, cursing their fate. _No, it couldn't be just some random, weak hollow, could it? It had to be an army with an Arrancar commander_. The only up side to this whole situation was Ichigo's reiatsu was too weak to attract them to him.

"Mae*, Sode No Shirayuki," she called out to her zanpakutou. A ribbon white as the driven snow emitted from the hilt and a cold, ice tipped wind could be felt twirling around the small Shinigami from head to foot as she assumed a fighting stance. Sode No Shirayuki glistened even under the black void of a sky, once again earning its reputation as the most beautiful zanpakutou in all of Soul Society. One of the Gillian was advancing to her position, the other and the Arrancar hanging back, sizing her up.

Ichigo winced as his heart filled with dread: he was able to make out three separate foreign reiatsu signatures right over him, one much more powerful than the other two. Although not strong enough to be Espada, it definitely felt like high-level Arrancar. The rest of what he felt was a ways off yet, but approaching fast enough. He dragged himself up the rocks to a fully upright position and entered a whole new world of pain, hugging himself he doubled over.

"Rukia, hold on," he exclaimed as his body cried out for mercy. Ichigo tried to take a step and stumbled, barely able to stay on his two feet.

The first Gillian approached her and tried to kick her with its humongous foot.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro**," Rukia called out. She ducked out of the way of the foot barreling down on her. The Menos had stepped into the pale, white moon of ice etched on the ground by her zanpakutou. As soon as the Gillian was completely in the circle, a pillar of ice was constructed and encased the Menos Grande's entire body. Rukia waited and heard the sharp cracking sound as the gleaming column shattered, taking the Gillian with it.

The crocodile Arrancar chuckled, "_Bueno***_." His face darkened as he gave a silent command to to the remaining Menos.

"Now let's see how you handle this." the Arrancar taunted, his voice muddied with a thick Spanish accent. The remaining Gillian began to power up a Cero and the Arrancar flashed out of sight.

Rukia quickly reacted to the Gillian mounting its attack first so she could eliminate its threat focus solely on the Arrancar.

Rukia brought her hand up, palm side out and yelled, "Way of Destruction number 33, Blue Fire, Crash Down!" The kidou blast hit the center of the great monster's body, throwing him back while nullifying the Cero. She used shunpo to move way up into the atmosphere and survey the area below her. There was no sign of the Arrancar.

_Where is he_?

"I'm right here," as if he'd read her mind, the voice came from directly behind her.

She spun just in time to meet her opponent's zanpakutou with her own. Grunting in effort, Rukia held off the Arrancar as they were locked in a stalemate, each one matching the other's force. The grating of metal against metal rang out, vibrating even her teeth.

"Shinigami, you are quite foolish," the Arrancar sneered arrogantly. "You took your eyes off me, and now you take your eyes off my lovely Gillian friend."

Rukia looked back over her shoulder while she held off the Arrancar's blade to see the Gillian regaining its feet. Over the head of the Gillian, she could now see the eyes of the horde of approaching Menos and Hollow now, almost in range of the battle. _Ok, _t_his is bad_, she thought, shaken, focusing once again on the Arrancar. She had to get rid of him so the lesser Hollow would be in disarray; then she would have a chance to escape with Ichigo.

"Ah, it's time for your end, _bonita****_," the Arrancar interrupted her strategy planning while he shook his head. "Too bad that shiny zanpakutou you have is going to get smashed into tiny pieces" The Arrancar used all his might to shove Rukia away from him, pushing her at a steep downward angle. She went sliding backward, digging her heels into the air around her to slow her rate of speed. She hadn't noticed that in the moment she engaged the crocodile-man, the Gillian had moved to a position almost directly below her. He had pushed her directly in the path of the Gillian, who had a Cero prepared.

Rukia's eyes bulged as she turned and intinctively raised Sode No Shirayuki, holding the pommel in one hand and the blade in the other, to shield herself. There was nothing to be done but try to block the attack.

"Crap," she muttered as the red beam of energy came at her. Rukia welled up all her remaining spirit power to meet it. The hit blew her backward immediately, but she was able to stave it off. She almost made it through the length of the blast, but just at the end of what the Gillian could emit, the Cero overpowered her. The small shinigami was completely enveloped before she was catapulted into midair from the force. Her limp, battered form fell down to the pile of stones, crashing in a plume of dust and smoke.

Rukia couldn't move, severely injured, and the feeling of being wet with her own blood made her woozy as she lay there sprawled on her back. Though none of her injuries seemed fatal, her body was bruised and cut and bloody in so many different places she couldn't decide which wound hurt more. Her breathing came in painful gasps, and a line of blood trickled from a bad cut above her eye onto her temple then to the ground.

She wondered why she was still alive.

_That Cero must have lost just enough of it's initial strength while I blocked it to not kill me when it hit. Great... I get to feel another one,_ she realized, _and this time I'm done_.

She had so very little reiatsu left: blocking and then taking the hit had basically sucked it right out of her. It was just too soon after she was healed from her injuries gained fighting the Espada she encountered. Too soon after giving everything she had to heal Ichigo...

_Ichigo. I guess I won't get to tell him after all,_ she mourned, a single tear leaving the corner of her eye, coursing it's way through the crimson blood on her temple before it, too, splashed to the floor.

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* Dance

** First Dance, White Moon

***good

****beautiful


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well, the next 2 chaps should be out soon. After that, time between updates will be anybody's guess. I'm gonna try, I promise. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone reading and reviewing this fic. It means a lot to me that someone would read, let alone enjoy, my work. Special thanks to J'aime Manga, ichirukipwns, and Konoha's White Fang for their support from the start. :)

DIsclaimer: I still don't own Bleach. Alejandro del Pantano and his zanpakutou and all its aspects are mine.

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**Chapter 6**

His Quincy bow was already out when he instructed Chad to go with him. He shot a few arrows up to get their attention, to try to lead them away from Kurosaki, who was in no way capable of moving from this spot let alone capable of taking even weak hollow on.

More importantly, he was also leading them away from Inoue. Out of the corner of his eye, Ishida saw Renji scoop up her and go in the other direction.

_Please don't let them follow her_, Ishida prayed.

Comprehension of what his Grandfather-sensei said so long ago finally came to Ishida when Inoue was abducted. He'd said Ishida's father was trying to protect something and that he would understand once Ishida himself had found the one thing he wanted to protect. He understood now, and had newfound respect and maybe even, well, not quite love for his father, but something other than contempt.

_Be safe, Inoue_.

His spur-of-the-moment plan worked to some extent. The majority of the first wave of Gillian and hollow moved toward Ishida and Chad, but some remained at their crater. Ishida could make out Rukia now, taking on the Gillian, as he flashed and shot and flashed and shot, keeping the ones he lured on their path. Then he saw the rest of the massive pack of hollow on their way to their location.

"Sado, we're going to be busy a while," Ishida smirked while looking over his shoulder at their pursuers.

Chad grunted in agreement. Both of his arms were armored and flowing with their power. The two of them turned around to face the hollow.

Ishida started to put a hail of arrows into the group, taking down some of the weaker hollow with ease. Chad reared up as his reiatsu grew around his fist and punched a Gillian square in the nose, obliterating its face. So it went as they battled, Menos and lesser hollow falling.

As he drilled hundreds of holes in another Gillian with his Quincy arrows, he thought of Inoue. He could feel her reiatsu, that sweet, steady essence of her in the distance, away from battle. She wasn't in danger now.

He'd protect Inoue from afar. It was safer that way.

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Inoue had awoken to the eerie screaming of hollows and the huge, menacing spiritual pressure surrounding her. Before she could even blink she felt herself get whisked away.

"Put me down, Abarai-kun! They need our help!" She was slung over his shoulder so Inoue pounded her fists into his back.

"Hey!" Renji cried, "quit it!"

"Inoue, you're injured." Renji scolded as he covered ground. "Anyway, I don't think Ichigo would appreciate you being in harm's way, especially after all the work he did to save you. I know I wouldn't."

The girl bit her lower lip and looked down at her hands covered in gauzy strips, a reminder of her weakness. _He's right_, she thought, _they wouldn't want me around to get hurt... or in the way_.

She wondered if Rukia was able to get Ichigo to a safe place because there was no way he could fight as he was now. Inoue happened to catch sight of Ishida leaving to take on the hollow with Chad right before Renji took her off the other way. He was going to lead them away from them, he said, but from what she could see over Renji's shoulder, there were so many! She stared in awe, eyes big as saucers, at the hordes of hollow.

They hadn't stopped running yet, but she could tell fights had already begun.

She hoped they were all ok. Inoue couldn't bear the thought of losing any one of her friends. They'd come to rescue her: if anyone got killed, it would be her fault. Her fault for falling into the trap, her fault for not being able to take care of herself.

_No more_.

"Inoue, I'm going to find a good place to hide you and then go help out Rukia." Renji stated as he placed her down and took in his surroundings. "Please stay hidden and, if you need to, use your shield to protect yourself."

"No, Abarai-kun. If you're going, so am I." Her arms were held stiffly at her sides, ending in fists that trembled. She was not about to let her friends down again. This time, she would be ready. It wasn't like Soul Society, where they fought other people; she was never comfortable with that. These were hollows, monsters, and Inoue knew she would be able to fight just like she fought at school for Tatsuki.

"Inoue..."

"I am coming with you," Inoue stood even more firm now, "so you can either carry me again or I can follow behind you, but I'm still coming. They're my nakama, too."

Renji knew better than to argue with a woman who was so resolute (being with Rukia all those years had taught him at least that much). Besides, she couldn't use flash step. If she followed behind him on her own it would leave her more vulnerable. The shinigami tightened his face and hefted Inoue so she would be riding piggyback this time.

"Alright, Inoue, here we go. If it gets intense, I want you to move out of harm's way and see what you can do from a distance, got it?" Renji ordered, taking up flash steps once again, this time going toward the signs of trouble.

"Got it!"

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Ichigo saw the Cero meet Rukia and watched her block it for a while before it overcame her. He looked on in horror as she was toassed like a ragdoll and plummeted to the ground. Then he saw the Arrancar who resembled a crocodile direct the Gillian to use Cero again. The monster's eyes glowed red as it prepared the killing blow.

"NO! RUKIA!" Ichigo screamed as he doubled over in pain. Then everything went black.

Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself standing on a building, sideways. _Wha...?_

This time, Old Man Zangetsu was there to welcome him to his inner world. He was perched on a stick or pole of some sort that was planted on one of the buildings. He hopped down off with a slightly disgusted expression on his face.

"So, Ichigo, we find ourselves here again. Twice in one day," Zangetsu mused as he walked toward Ichigo.

"What the hell am I doing here? I have to save Rukia," Ichigo pleaded, barely able to stand even in his own world, but Zangetsu said nothing in response as he circled around Ichigo, his arms folded across his chest.

Instead, the Old Man asked, "Have you forgotten what we discussed? That lesson you should have learned back in Soul Society?"

"There's no time for riddles and games, Old Man. She's going to die out there!" the young shinigami explained hurriedly, but Zangetsu was having none of it. Ichigo realized the Old Man wasn't going to budge and bowed his head in defeat.

"What do I have to do?"

"Quite honestly, I'm disappointed in you," the man said, peering at Ichigo from behind his glasses. "A little trauma and you forget everything we've discussed. Oh, you'll be able to help her, Ichigo, just as soon as you remember what you're to do with me in a time like this," Zangetsu scoffed as his voice and form faded.

"GODDAMMIT! Where'd you go?" Ichigo demanded, but there was no answer.

He would have to find an answer on his own, and fast.

"_Ok, think, what am I supposed to do. I can't do anything myself right now..._ " He scratched the back of his head as he so often did when deep in thought. Ichigo's eyes lit up as it dawned on him.

Next thing he knew he was back in the crater and had Zangetsu grasped firmly in his palm. "Sorry, Old Man," he apologized, "for forgetting."

It seemed Ichigo was having to relearn many things today.

"Please, lend me your strength, Zangetsu," Ichigo begged. The zanpakutou began to exude reiatsu, and Ichigo immediately felt strength flow through him. He silently thanked Zangetsu and flashed to Rukia's location.

Rukia saw the red blast hurtling toward her and closed her eyes. She was truly ready to die when she was seconds away from being executed in Soul Society, but this time she was filled with regret. This time she wanted to tell Ichigo her feelings, to hold him close to her, to feel his lips on hers, to not sleep in his closet but in his bed with him by her side. Rukia held her breath. Then the blast was upon her.

It took a moment for Rukia to realize there was no searing pain, no burning up into nothing--no Cero. Rukia wondered why her death blow hadn't arrived yet even though she could hear the crackling of Cero meeting a target. Instead, she noticed a presence standing over her. She heard her name being called.

"Rukia. RUKIA! Dammit Rukia, say something." Ichigo willed Rukia to move, to blink, to do anything that would tell him she was ok. He could see the blood running a line from her forehead and the evidence of trauma all over her. Her sword hand was opened lazily with Sode No Shirayuki's hilt resting upon it. He searched her form for any movement at all but registered instead that she hadn't taken a breath since he'd arrived.

His eyes burned in their sockets, and he couldn't catch his breath. _No..._.

She opened her eyes slowly, still not allowing herself to believe she was not going to get hit with a Cero. Ichigo was standing over her, looking down at her with a choked sort of expression, but still blocking the blast with Zangetsu. She let go of the breath she'd been holding.

"IDIOT! Ichigo, what are you doing? You're in no condition to fight!" her voice croaked. She tried to move to stop him, but her body had other ideas, and she struggled just to get to her knees.

Rukia abruptly realized she could feel Ichigo's reiatsu, strong and unwavering. She breathed a sigh of relief. _Almost_ certain Ichigo wasn't being too rash, she relaxed. She coughed and winced in pain, but still couldn't help but smile a little, glad Ichigo was with her, not to mention quite happy to still be alive.

"And here I thought I was doing something nice," Ichigo countered her outburst as the pulse of the blast vibrated his zanpakutou.

The lump in his throat retreated at her first word, which of course was "Idiot." Typical Rukia. Exactly what he'd come expect and love.

Completely spent, Rukia couldn't even remain crouched down as she was. She nearly flopped onto the jutting, craggy rocks, but Ichigo reached for her immediately when he saw her give out and caught her up by her waist with his left arm. He lifted her and held her tightly to him at his side, her face buried in the space under his neck. Though her muscles held no strength in them anymore, her outer arm wrapped around Ichigo's middle, and the other hooked over his back with her hand limp on his shoulder.

It was then Rukia could feel Ichigo was breathing heavily, but all he was doing was blocking a weak Gillian Cero, which he could usually do without too much trouble. Was he ok to fight?

She turned her head back up at him, her dark violet eyes locking his. "Fool, why are you breathing hard? Are you really ok, or are you being reckless as usual?"

Ichigo scowled back at her, trying to come up with a snappy retort, but nothing came. He was barely sucking in breath because of her. Thinking he'd lost her knocked the wind right out of Ichigo, and he still couldn't quite get control of his racing heart. Having Rukia tucked in so closely to him wasn't helping, either.

Luckily, he didn't have to answer her. The Cero blast ceased, and the crocodile Arrancar roared, "Who blocked that Cero?"

Glaring up at his opponent, Ichigo taunted him, "Just the guy who is going to kick your ass!"

He gingerly sat Rukia down on one of the protruding rocks, leaning her back against the jumbled stones. "I'll be right back," he told her as his reiatsu flared up around him.

"Ichigo..." started Rukia, obviously concerned.

Ichigo furrowed his brow, and Rukia braced for some speech about her worrying too much. She was in total awe when his face softened to completely lose that intense tightness he's worn since she met him. "Don't worry, I'll get this over with quickly," he reassured her as he flash-stepped toward the Menos.

She watched him go. It was still too near to forget how she found him just hours ago, but here he was, bounding away into yet another battle, running off into another dangerous situation that could take him from her forever. Rukia knew he'd be in harm's way again and again as a shinigami. _Get used to it_, she told herself. _This comes with the territory_.

The swarm of countless Gillian and hollow had now arrived. The Arrancar, infuriated by being thwarted in his attempt to kill the small female shinigami, ordered every Gillian in the vicinity to use Cero on that cocky, orange-haired shinigami.

Zangetsu was in front of Ichigo in no more than a second. "BANKAI!" he screamed. His shihakushou, altered now to resemble Zangetsu's, whipped about him in the surge of his reiatsu and his zanpakutou became the sleek, condensed, jet black version of itself.

Normally, Ichigo wouldn't have bothered with releasing his zanpakutou for these level hollow, but the substitute shinigami was in a hurry: he wanted to get back to Rukia.

Using the ultra-fast flash step his bankai granted him, Ichigo made swift work of the hollow. He sliced one through the head and before you could fully register that movement, he flashed to the next one and repeated the motions. Again and again, in a mere few seconds, their numbers were decimated.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU," he cried. The wave of power released by his zanpakutou picked off the remaining ten or so Gillian, just before any Cero could come to fruition.

The Arrancar gaped in utter disbelief. Infuriatied at how quickly his army was destroyed by a single shinigami, he sought out the sabotuer of his plans. When he turned, Ichigo was already waiting in front of him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I'm once again debating ending the fic in the next chapter or keeping it going for a second part. If I were to continue, the focus would shift a little to Ishihime (still plenty Ichiruki, though) to give them the attention they deserve, but I'm not sure I what it'll do to the integrity of the story. Plus, updates will take even longer because I've got only an outline of the rest and mere bits and pieces are written out so far. I guess we'll see...

ANOTHER A/N: I'm so very sorry, I forgot to add the translations at the end. DUH! I'm a dork. Anyway, it's now edited to include translations at the bottom.

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She turned to peer at the sky above Las Noches. Her hair billowed in front of her face while she rode on the Renji's back in shunpo, making it difficult to see what was happening, but Inoue was sure that she saw Ichigo, in bankai, taking out the hollow and Gillian with little effort. _They'll be fine_, she reassured herself.

The red-haired shinigami spoke up, echoing her thoughts, "Looks like Ichigo's got it taken care of."

He ducked down a little bit and ran a little faster, "I'm feeling some weird reiatsu up there near Sado and Ishida."

She could feel it, too, although it was times like this Inoue really wished she couldn't. It was a slimy, sick-feeling reiatsu that made her skin crawl.

They crested a sand dune and Inoue was able to clearly see the owner of that foul spirit pressure. She wished she hadn't.

Resembling a king cobra in form, the hollow's white and grey speckled body was long and lean, and it used it's tail to both hold itself upright or flail at its enemy, which just happened to be Ishida. When it was as tall as it could get, the serpentine hollow opened the hood around it's face. Inside the cobra's hood were what looked like hundreds of festering blisters. A few had opened already, oozing out a putrid, black puss.

Inoue's throat clenched against having the entire contents of her stomach emptied right there.

Renji, slightly amused and very disgusted, commented, "Now that's a nasty hollow."

Chad had both his Brazo Derecho del Gigante and Brazo Izquierda del Diablo and was taking on two Gillian at once, and more were coming. Ishida was focusing on the serpent, setting loose a hail of blue arrows from Ginrei Kojyaku.

One of the blisters in the hood burst open to reveal smaller black pustules that shot out like grenedes at the Quincy. To Inoue's relief, Ishida's arrows met every one of those last little spores. He continued his barrage to make the hollow look like swiss cheese. It had hole after hole put through it, but it just wouldn't fall.

It screamed in pain, and Ishida used it's moment of weakness before it could regenerate to move to directly above it, intending to put enough arrows in its head to defeat it.

"I'm coming, Sado," Ishida called out to the big guy. "I'm not going to let you have all those to yourself."

The hollow roared and sneered, "Oh, I'm not done yet, Quincy," dragging out the last syllable in a sustained hiss and tilted its head toward the archer. Inoue watched as it opened it's hood to reveal_ all _the blisters were opening. Was Ishida'a shot rate fast enough to take on the thousands of spores the beast would send out?

"Shit," was the only thing she thought she heard him say before the shots were fired, from both the hollow and himself.

An explosion from the meeting of their projectiles engulfed them, blocking Inoue's view. The girl kept her eyes on where she last saw Ishida. As the cloud dissipated, she was close enough now to see Ishida bent over like a question mark in the sky, and could very easily make out two angry black blotches standing out on his Quincy uniform. That nasty stuff was on Ishida, one spot on his right knee and one spot on the right side of his neck.

Then she felt his reiatsu drop dramatically, and Ishida fell backwards from the sky to the sand.

"Ishida-kun!" Inoue cried.

Renji arched backwards to let her down. "Go help Ishida, Inoue!" Renji ordered as he ran toward Chad. She was already off before he could finish the sentence.

"Hoeru, Zabimaru!" she heard Renji release his zanpakutou from behind her as she put distance between them.

Inoue ran with all she had. Ishida never got hurt, at least had never gotten hurt in front of her before, and it made her heart sink. She could see him lying there as she approached, injured and helpless, his reiatsu weak and polluted.

"I'm coming, Ishida-kun!" she called to him.

Something else had discovered him, though: that snake hollow. She looked over in desperation at Renji and Chad. They were trying to deal with a bunch of Menos shooting off Cero. The thing was wobbly, but the snake found him. From what she could hear over sound of her blood rushing in her ears, it was spouting about how tasty a Quincy would be, that he hadn't eaten one in years. Ishida probably wasn't even aware of it there. The Hollow was leaning in to eat, and Inoue felt something deep within her rise up, just as it had when she first received her powers and killed the hollow hurting Tatsuki.

She wouldn't fail again. She _would_ protect Ishida.

"Koten Zanshun!" she cried out, still running toward the boy on the ground. She was close enough to make out his face now. It was twisted in pain.

Tsubaki was aimed defty at the hollow's head, shot with killing intent, shot without fear or hesitation.

The cobra hollow turned in just enough time to see the shot from woman who killed him.

_________________________________

The deep, dark black of her hair was the same color of the Hueco Mundo sky, and it blew behind her every time the winds kicked up. The pale skin of her face was broken by a wisp of bang that refused to be tamed. Her body was completely still save for the rise and fall of her chest: she could've been a statue if it wasn't for that.

Rukia's eyes were locked on the battle in front of her. So far, Ichigo and the crocodile Arrancar had both taken blows and were standing a little ways apart from one another in midair.

"Ah, shinigami, you are quite good. Muy bueno*," the Arrancar praised. "I suppose it was inevitable. I _must_ fight someone like you. You see, I tried to avoid altercation, hence my ejército.** " He gestured toward where Ishida and Chad were still fighting what was left of the army of hollow.

"You have earned hearing my name. Allow me to introduce myself. Me llama*** Alejandro Querida del Pantano, Privaron Espada numero ciento uno****." He wiped away fresh blood to bare the tattoo on the underside of his right wrist. "And who, may I ask, are you, shinigami?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami," Ichigo replied coolly while wiping his own blood from his brow with the back of his sleeve.

"Ah, not even a taichou or fukutaichou and so powerful! Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to best me. It'll be a shame, but I must take you down now before you can reach your potential, joven*****," Alejandro said as he released his zanpakutou.

"Muerda, Quijada del Cocodrilo******"

The release of the Espada's zanpakutou threw Rukia backward against the rock she perched on.

Swirling yellow bands of reiatsu enveloped Alejandro, obscuring him from view, and bits of sand and pieces of the ground way below were torn away into the yellow vortex from the sheer strength of the flow. The reiatsu swirled around faster and faster until it blew outward. When the air cleared, Alejandro had assumed his resureccion form, which gave him even more of the appearance of a crocodile. He wore a mask that encompassed the entire upper and lower jaw of a crocodile which surrounded his entire face. Those blackest of black eyes seemed more like the empty sockets of a skull in this current form. A thick tail trailed behind him, and his hands and feet had evolved into short reptilian claws.

_I have to defeat him without my mask_, Ichigo told himself as he sized up the Espada. _I can't let Rukia see... not yet_.

As Rukia looked on as Ichigo and Alejandro flashed about exchaging blows, zanpakutou to claw or tail. Ichigo was at a disadvantage in number of weapons, and it showed when they were close to one another at a deadlock. If Zangetsu blocked one set of claws, Alejandro slashed with the claws on his free hand or his muscular tail at a blinding rate.

"You are not going to last much longer, Kurosaki Ichigo, so I say adios," the Espada slashed across Ichigo's middle and blood spewed from the boy's mouth. The force of the blow shot him back as he doubled over, clutching at his stomach.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried out in alarm.

Ichigo'd gotten some decent hits in on Alejandro earlier, but they were nothing compared to the damage Alejandro was inflicting upon him after release. Blood trailed down the side of the young shinigami's face from a dark red gash on his forehead just below his hairline; it seeped from the corner of his mouth from coughing up the stuff. His shihakushou was shredded at the arms and blood oozed from the numerous slashes on his skin.

The crocodile Espada took no time in initiating another attack, swinging at Ichigo with his huge tail. While the weakened shinigami was thrown off balance, Alejandro swiped him with the heavy claws on his right hand, deeply slicing Ichigo's right side, tearing his lungs up through the spaces between his ribs. He immediately grabbed across his body, and blood poured endlessly through his fingers while he fought for breath.

"No!" a distraught Rukia shrieked. Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo could see Rukia trying once again to get to her feet and having no luck.

Standing was now a challenge for him, too, as each shallow breath he drew in made him want to topple over. Ichigo knew there was no way he could best his opponent as he was now.

The young shinigami looked at Rukia in response, almost apologetically she thought. _You better not be giving up, Ichigo._

He tried with all his might to defeat the former Espada without his Vaizard power, but like the Privaron Espada, Dordonii, Ichigo just couldn't do it without calling out his hollow. He wasn't ready for Rukia to see him this way. This wasn't the way he wanted her to find out, but it wasn't like he had much choice in the matter. If she reacted the same way Inoue did after the first shock wore off, he didn't think he'd recover. No, he knew without a doubt he wouldn't.

_It can't be helped_, Ichigo thought bitterly.

He faced Alejandro with his shoulders rounded slightly and said, "I'm sorry, I haven't been fighting you at my full strength. I guess I can't hold back anymore."

_What else can he possibly have? _Rukia asked inwardly. _He's already in bankai..._

Ichigo held a breath and ripped at the air in front of his face.

________________________________________________________________________

Pain was Ishida's whole world.

_A poisonous hollow_, he thought, _one of Aizen's creations, no doubt. Damn it hurts_.

He'd almost gotten through it. Right at the end, two of those things hit him within seconds of each other. One hit his thigh directly above his knee and the other in his neck. They had tiny barbs covering them, which served two purposes: attaching themselves to you and injecting the poison.

How that hollow got him was simple: he got sidetracked and let his guard down. When he called out to Sado, he felt Inoue's reiatsu approaching, fast. She was coming right toward the battle, toward that grotesque hollow.

_Inoue, stay away from here_, his mind called out to her. That's when all those little pustules in the snake's hood flew up at him. If he'd had his mind in the battle and not on Inoue, he would've been able to anticipate and dodge and take out all of the spores.

He could feel the toxin the Hollow released moving away from the sites of impact, spreading though his body. Every millimeter it gained sent new waves of torture through him. The poison was already completely encompassing his legs and arms and crept closer and closer to his vital organs, moving with his pulse. He knew he was done for once it made it to his heart.

He wondered if Inoue was safe. Kurosaki was fighting now--he couldn't miss that reiatsu even in this state. That guy would never learn to control it, would he? Kurosaki would get Inoue out of this place. Ichigo would get her home, and Inoue would live her life. The thought was bittersweet: he so desperately wanted to be a part of that life, but at the rate things were going, he wasn't going home.

Sweat beaded on Ishida's forehead and his body shook uncontrollably. He could hear only his own groans at this point, a pathetic sound with the wave of torment that came with each beat of his heart. His vision was hazy, partly because of the pain and partly because his glasses were thrown off when he it the ground. Ishida figured he wanted to see clearly as possible as he lay dying. He ran his fingers through the harsh, white sands around him and fumbled for his glasses even though his arms felt like lead and his fingers felt like they had burst into flames. Maybe they had, he couldn't tell. The glasses weren't anywhere close enough to him, and he couldn't move enough to find them. He could feel the poison make it's way to the center of him, shortening his breath. The quincy no longer had the energy to keep his eyes open anyway.

Even though it was probably delirium, Ishida thought he felt Inoue's presence now. At least he'd die with the memory of that sweet aura around him, and on some level, that was ok.

He thought he heard his name.

"Ishida-kun, hold on."

He felt something brush his forehead, moving his sweat-soaked hair off his face. He heard his name again, "Ishida-kun." Then he felt his glasses slide onto the bridge of his nose. The fallen Quincy fought the pain that sought to overtake him to open his eyes barely enough to let light in. There was a shadow hovering over him. He wondered somewhere in the back of his pain-ridden mind if it was an angel. If it was, it was right on time, because he couldn't breathe anymore. Ishida blinked to get a look at who had come to see him die.

He could see her eyes, those beautiful eyes that could bear his soul.

His final thoughts were what his heart ached to say aloud.

_Aishiteru^... Inoue._

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It took a moment for Rukia to comprehend what she just saw.

_His reiatsu... so strong but so different... so like... _

"A hollow," she continued her thought aloud as her hand went up to her lips.

That horrible memory of Kaien, overtaken by the hollow, with that disgustingly long tongue and gouged-out holes for eyes, assaulted her, and she slammed her eyes shut to be rid of it. She couldn't catch her breath. _No, not Ichigo, too_.

She shook her head violently to clear it. _No, he wasn't overtaken, Rukia. He's in control. Focus!_

As her initial shock wore off, Rukia rapidly started to put things together. _So this is the new power he sought after, the one he achieved when he disappeared after his fight with Grimmjow, _she thought._ He didn't shatter his inner hollow: he merged with it! No wonder he hid it from me..._

This was one development she hadn't forseen, and it scared her more than anything. Not because Ichigo had an inner hollow, she already knew that, and not because he'd somehow joined with it, but because now that he obtained this type of power things could get very complicated with Soul Society.

_What will they do to him if they discover this?_

She forcefully pushed the thought from her mind to focus on what was going on. Ichigo was still fighting for his life out there, no matter what he looked like and what power he was using. She realized Ichigo stopped paying attention to Alejandro and was monitoring her for her reaction. Rukia could plainly see Alejandro was trying to capitalize on Ichigo's distraction.

"Fool! What are you doing staring at me? Here he comes!" Rukia cautioned, jabbing at the air with her finger in the direction where the attack would come.

Rukia's warning allowed Ichigo to meet the former Espada's tail with his blade this time, and both were pushed backward from the force of the blow. Again, as if losing concentration and nearly getting smashed by the former Espada meant nothing, Ichigo only had eyes for Rukia.

_Will you fear me, will you hate me now, Rukia?_

Even though his face was covered in that gruesome mask and his eyes were pitch black with menacing yellow irises, Rukia could still read him like the back of her hand: he was looking for her acceptance. She was dismayed to see the blood flow from Ichigo's wounds begin to increase as his resolve weakened. He was scared about how she would react, and his fear could very well get him killed right now.

"Ichigo," she called to him, putting on the air of superiority she reserves solely for scolding Ichigo, "you're still being careless! Now get moving, and don't let that power you've attained be for nothing!"

He didn't budge.

Rukia paused and looked intently at the shinigami wearing a hollow mask, the shinigami she loved, the shinigami whose life depended on her next words. If the situation were reversed, what would she want to hear from Ichigo?

Rukia put her head down, used all her strength to force herself to her feet and took two shaky steps toward Ichigo. When she raised her head, her eyes were warm, loving, "I am not frightened by what I see. Stop holding back because of me. Nothing you can do, not even that mask, will cause me to change how I see you."

It seemed that was all Ichigo needed. Alejandro Querida del Pantano didn't stand a chance.

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* very good

** army

*** lit. you call me; my name is

**** number 101

***** young man, teenager

****** Bite, Jaw of the Crocodile

^ literally, I love you. I used this phrase because it gives the feeling of deep, marital, undying love. Culturally speaking, Japanese don't use "I love you" very often, using phrases like daisuki (lit. big like, meaning I like you a lot) instead, so for Ishida to be using this phrase for Inoue in testament to how he feels.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

A/N: Well, here's the next chapter. This one will draw Part I to a close *sniff*. I've got my outline done for Part II and III, but I've yet to write the next chap. You see, I've been getting scenes in my head and writing them down, but they're not chonological in the story making it hard to post anything. I'm working on it, though, and as soon as I'm happy with what I've got, I'll release it. Gotta make sure you guys get quality and all. Part II takes us to a pivotal time for Ichigo, something I wasn't sure I should do, but hey, it's in my head and it won't go away. ;) From here on out, we're gonna get a little fluffier, but hopefully I'll be able to find balance with some good fight scenes.

Oh, btw, I'd really like to see some more reviews. I need some constructive criticism, not just great job or this sucks--tell me what was good and what wasn't so good. I can't improve without a little help from you, constant reader.

Here it is, the close of Part I. Enjoy.

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She managed to halt the poison before healing him would have gotten immensely more difficult. Ishida was moaning softly under her Soten Kisshun, shuddering and looking particularly miserable, but he would survive.

Inoue was kneeling beside Ishida on the hard-packed sand with the sounds of battle ringing in her ears. Chad and Renji were still fending off hollow, but the hollow seemed to disperse, looking confused, as if whatever had coordinated their efforts vanished. They were killing them with ease now. She could feel Rukia's reiatsu, a little weak but steady, and Ichigo's reiatsu was calming: he defeated whatever remained at Las Noches' Fifth Tower.

It wasn't Ishida's physical condition or the outcome of the battle that had frazzled her nerves.

_Did he just say what I think he said?_ a dumbfounded Inoue asked herself.

Just as she called out her Shun Shun Rikka, she heard Ishida whisper that phrase that could mean so much trouble, and then she heard her name afterwords. If he hadn't said her name, she would've totally chalked it up to a fevered dream or that he was talking about someone else, but no, he just _had_ to clarify with a breathy, "Inoue," before he completely passed out.

_Oh, boy_.

The wind had been knocked out of her. Why was it so hard to breathe? Inoue's skin tingled as the last year's events suddenly came into sharp focus.

They had entered the Seireitei, and she had cushioned both Ishida and herself from the fall. He'd bandaged her up while she was unconscious, and when she woke, he was looking at her weird.

They encountered Ziroubou, the kamitachi, and Ishida used hirenkyaku to get her away from his attack just in time. Ziroubou kept trying to attack her, but Ishida was always right there to stop him, a fierce look in his eyes.

Then they were disguised as shinigami. That one big shinigami was hitting on her pretty badly, and Ishida stood between them, defending her.

Oddly, handicrafts club popped into her mind. Ishida sat in the desk beside Inoue every time, and he always found a way to compliment her work. When she would dismiss him and say that he was so much better, he would look away from her and push his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, quietly saying, "Thank you, Inoue-san." There were times she was sure he was blushing.

Inoue recalled being in class. During English, her mind had wandered again to Ichigo. _What would a date with Kurosaki-kun be like? Would he kiss her? Would he eat the dessert she made with chocolate and wasabi_? She had gazed over at him, just watching the back of his orange-haired head moving up and down while he was taking notes. She fumbled with her pen not even attempting to take notes, although she felt guilty about that. She sighed and looked out the huge window next to her desk, still daydreaming.

Out of the corner of her eye she caught Ishida's reflection. He wasn't taking notes, either. No, he was gazing _at her_. Back then she was so involved in her daydreaming that she thought Ishida saw something out the window. Looking back on it now, Ishida couldn't have seen anything: the window was acting like a big mirror with the lighting at that time of day.

Now there was the way he had just held her when she nearly passed out. Both Ichigo and Renji had slung her over their shoulders like a sack of potatoes, but Ishida... Ishida held her like... well, like a woman.

It was as if the pieces of some great puzzle fell together. All this time she was longing for Ichigo, regretting that he was totally unaware of how she felt or him, when in truth she was the one who'd been blinded. It was right there in front of her the whole time.

_Ishida-kun_.

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While Alejandro's spirit particles were still floating in the air, Ichigo tore off his mask and flashed over to where he left Rukia. He scooped her small body up in both his arms, ignoring his injuries to carry her down to the bottom of the crater in the pile of stone and debris.

Relief washed over him as he clutched her close. She had now seen his Vaizard side and didn't pull away from his touch. The clenching feeling in his chest started to subside; she wasn't afraid of him, and she didn't hate him.

Ichigo pulled her even tighter to him, and Rukia let out a pain-filled moan, which brought back one of the worst memories he would ever have: the sight of Rukia taking a Cero and lying battered and motionless. He loosened his grip on her and shuddered thinking about what had almost happened. He dropped his head into Rukia's neck and filled his lungs with the scent of her: a hint of orchids after rain.

Once his foot hit the tiled floor, stubborn as ever, Rukia balked, "Put me down! I can walk now."

"Nope," Ichigo stated firmly, calling her bluff. He lifted his head to glare at her. "I don't think you can even stand. You're gonna let me carry you even if it kills you."

Rukia punched him square in the shoulder with all the strength she could muster, which was just enough to hurt.

"Or if it kills me," he coughed.

He expected her to put up more fight or sulk a little more about being carried like a damsel in distress; he knew she hated that. When she didn't resume her protests and her demeanor changed to something much softer, quieter, Ichigo thought there was something really wrong.

"Rukia..." he began.

"Ichigo, are you alright?" Her hand found its way to Ichigo's hot, flushed cheek, effectively cutting him off. He was still breathing quite heavily from the exertion and was drenched in blood and sweat, and still worse, his expression was haunted.

"I'm fine. Anyway, that's my line!" Ichigo was so frustrated. He just rescued her, and as beat up as she was, she just asked how _he_ was? He wasn't even that bad compared to her, at least he thought so. _She almost_... Ichigo couldn't even think it.

"How is that your line, idiot?! You're bleeding from everywhere! _I'll_ be fine," Rukia pursed her lips. She shifted herself in his arms and saw red slowly blossoming on the bandages covering his chest. "On top of all the wounds you just got, your other injury reopened. Where's Inoue?," she sighed. With that, Rukia's mind flashed back to how he laid there on the ground which was still stained a dark black-red with a dying Ichigo's blood.

Ichigo barely nodded, "It's not too bad, though. You're worse off than I am. Stop worrying, midget, I..."

"I thought I'd lost you," she whispered suddenly. "You... you were gone for a moment there, and I nearly died along with you."

She placed her hand where blood began to spread, her deep violet eyes shining with the tears that welled up unchecked.

"Never do that to me again, you idiot." She gulped and tried to force down the sobs that threatened to break through, but she failed miserably, openly weeping in Ichigo's arms.

"Rukia." That was sharper than he'd hoped, but Ichigo was thrown completely off guard by holding a crying Rukia. He decided he really, really didn't like it when Rukia cried.

Ichigo stopped, checking his words before they left his mouth. "Rukia," he repeated as he rested his chin on her head, his voice now barely more than a whisper. "You scared the hell out of _me_ just now, when you were lying there. You didn't answer me and... I almost didn't get there in time... " his voice trailed off. Then he appeared to have a new thought pop into his head, and his voice found new vigor. "You knew you were weak to begin with. Why the hell didn't you run?!"

Rukia gazed back up into Ichigo's eyes, so piercing that she drew back a little. She knew she would have probably been obliterated if Ichigo hadn't come along when he did, but that didn't matter. The tears stopped and were replaced by a steely gaze.

"How could I run? Do you think I could just leave you there?" Rukia questioned in horror.

On top of that, Ichigo had once again so easily dismissed her as a shinigami. She was a warrior with so many years experience on him, one who goes into battle with the grim knowledge her death could come at any time. His dismissal of that made her fume. "I told you not to waste your cares on me when we first entered Las Noches, when we split up, and I meant it. I've been a shinigami for much longer than you."

"Quit being so stubborn!" Ichigo demanded. "If I have the chance to save you or Inoue or Ishida, Chad or Renji or anyone, I'm going to take it every time!"

Those words were a dagger to Rukia's heart. _So_, came the dreadful realization, _I'm just one of his nakama... not something more._..

Biting her bottom lip and letting her eyelids fall, Rukia tried to shake it off nonchalantly and become her cold, walled-up self again. Even though he'd probably miss it because he could be that dense, and even if he saw it and didn't understand, she absolutely_ did not _want Ichigo to see how much that comment hurt her.

Instead, not in control of her emotions for the third time today, her body became rigid in Ichigo's arms, her eyes narrowed. "Maybe you need to stop playing hero," Rukia spat. "You," she emphasized in low tones, "you'll never know what it did to me, finding you here," she stated angrily, nearly choking on the last word as she poked him hard in the chest (still carefully avoiding he location of his injury, though) to drive her point.

At this, Ichigo wilted. Rukia felt his body bend over slightly as he shut his eyes tight, almost like someone kicked him in the gut. She softened--but only a little--at this. She hadn't meant to hurt him _that _badly, but she was furious at him for almost dying... for doubting her... for not loving her.

_You fool, Rukia_, she chided herself silently. _Look what you've gone and done_.

A painfully long, silent moment passed. Ichigo looked down at the woman in his arms, his brow even more tightly knit, eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do know," he responded firmly. His voice rose in anger, frustration and hurt as he unloaded the contents of his heart. "What do you think it was like for me to helplessly watch as Aizen bore a hole into you and take the Hougyoku? Did you know it was agony? How do you think I felt just now, seeing you lying there, wondering if you would ever open your eyes again after you were hit with a _Cero_? A Cero, dammit! I died a little every second I waited for you to answer me. Yes, I do know," he finished, nearly at the top of his lungs and nearly out of breath.

Rukia blinked. He was yelling at her, not that when it came to Ichigo she should expect something different, but the words he said were vastly different than anything she'd heard him say before.

"Ichigo..."

"Yes, I do know," he repeated, quietly now, his face so close it completely filled her vision.

Before she could register what was happening, Ichigo pulled her body into him, laced his fingers up through the back of her hair and smashed his lips to hers. He kissed her fiercely, holding her so tightly it hurt her wounds, but Rukia didn't care. It took her by surprise, but Rukia willingly gave in to him, her body melting into his as his lips pressed so firmly against hers. The sheer urgency of his kiss radiated throughout her entire body like a shock wave. And she returned every emotion.

There was no denying how he felt now.


	9. Pt 2: Death Changes Everything, Chap 9

**Part II: Death Changes Everything**

**Chapter 9**

A/N: Ok, here's the first chapter in Part II. This chapter is somewhat of a transition and needs to cover some of the loose ends, per se. Then, we're on to the meat of the story in the next chapter, which hopefully my muse will get to me sooner than this one. Many apologies from the both of us. Plus, I just found out I'm preggers. I have a disorder that can cause miscarriage so I've been a bit overwhelmed with dr visits and stuff which made the story hit the backburner.

I'm also working on an IchiRuki AVM set to _Everything I Do I Do it For You _by Bryan Adams. I'm about halfway done. I'll let you know where to find it. :)

Before I go any further, once again thanks to all who have read and/or reviewed thus far. Without your encouragement, this wouldn't have come to be. :)

And now, Part II...

_____________________________________________________

As Renji stuffed his zanpakutou through the mask one of the last hollow, Inoue was finishing up healing Ishida. Under her barrier, the Quincy sat crosslegged and watched the hollow burst into spirit particles. Inoue was gazing off into the distance towards Las Noches. _Probably wondering about Kurosaki. _The familiar pangs hit his heart again, and being with her, somewhat isolated from everyone, was just as torturous as the last time. She was right there and yet so far away, just out of reach.

_They're all ok_, Inoue sighed relieved.

Ishida felt out for everyone's reiatsu to find them all still there, some stronger than others but all still there, and a lack of hollow pressure in the vicinity.

"Kurosaki is well, Inoue-san," Ishida said dryly.

"Oh, I know, Ishida-kun. I was just thinking about Rukia-san, though. Her reiatsu feels a bit weak." She shook her head, "I'm sure she's fine."

Jumping to the wrong conclusion is not something Ishida did often _She was worried about Rukia-san?_ He shrugged it off, knowing full well once they got near Ichigo again, she'd start pinning over him. _What does she see in him, anyway?_

"How did you get here, Inoue-san?" Ishida asked, putting Ichigo out of his mind.

Inoue looked down at the sand. "I told Abarai-kun to take me back. I know he was trying to protect me, and he said you all would be very upset if something happened to me after all you'd done to rescue me, but I couldn't just sit by. The whole reason I came to Hueco Mundo was to keep all of you safe, and I wasn't going to sit back and let you fight for me anymore when I'm not able to fight for myself."

"You came here to protect us?" He wasn't quite understanding.

As if it were just a matter of course, she replied, "Uh-huh. Ulquiorra caught me running through the Senkaimon and told me he'd kill you all if I didn't go with him. It wasn't a tough choice, you know..."

"But you could've been hurt, Inoue-san." _She keeps sacrificing herself. _Ishida had to rein in the scream he wanted to unleash at her and formed the thought in his head instead._ Inoue, you'll get yourself killed like that!_

The serious look she gave surprised him, and she said simply, "I know," like her risking her life was the most natural thing to be doing.

He had to change the subject before he lost control. "Thank you for healing me, Inoue-san."

"You're welcome," she replied, looking like she really wanted to add something. He could see the the conflict in her eyes. When it seemed as if one side won her inner battle, it came out a hesitant whisper, "I killed that snake hollow. It was going to eat your soul."

"You... you killed it, Inoue-san?" Ishida quickly got to his knees, that fear and frustration churning once again. _She battled a hollow?_

"Of course! It was going to hurt you, Ishida-kun. I couldn't let that happen so I killed it and got to you as fast as I could." She looked directly at him and said quietly, "It hurt you really badly, Ishida-kun."

Oddly, he thought she seemed more frightened of the fact he was injured than of facing a dangerous hollow. Although his heart wanted to rejoice that she cared enough about him to do that, it also wanted to shrink away in fear and self-loathing. His preoccupation with Inoue left the opening for the hollow to hit him in the first place. His stupid emotions got in the way, and that hollow could've killed her while she was trying to help him. He shook his head. To top it off, now she was going to be running headlong into battle for his sake, for all their sakes. Oh, that wouldn't do at all. Ishida decided if she was going to fight, he'd have to never leave her side and yet remain somewhat unattached and unaffected. Finding a way to do that, though, was easier said than done. Ichigo couldn't even do that with Rukia so how in the world was he going to do that for Inoue?

The troubled look he caught in her eyes prompted him to say, "But I'm ok now, thanks to you, Inoue-san," and he motioned to the barrier.

"No problem. I'm sure you'd do the same for me," she told him brightly, none of her former uneasiness evident.

He nodded. _The same and more, Inoue._ He'd gladly throw down his life for her.

Curving her lips into a smile, she took down her shield, "Ok, all done, Ishida-kun."

Before he could even blink, she turned her shield on her hands. The amber glow lit her face like candlelight, and Ishida had to look away because it was causing him to break into a sweat. Oh, why did this have to be so hard? In no time, to Ishida's relief, her hands were completely healed and the the shield disappeared.

Inoue was unsuccessfully tugging at her bandages with her teeth, letting out soft little grunts of effort. Ishida chuckled in spite of himself: there was something about her that was so disarming sometimes. Before he realized, he was moving toward her, motioning to her hands, "Here, let me help you, Inoue." He shimmied over close to her and undid her bandages slowly. Glad to help her and, now that what he was doing had sunk in completely, unnerved at the same time, he wanted the moment to last forever and for the bandages to hurry up and come off already. He cursed Rukia's expert wrapping job.

"Thank you, Ishida-kun," she smiled warmly at him. Once the last of the gauzy strips fell to the ground, she leapt to her feet and reached a hand out to Ishida.

Pondering whether he should take it or not, Ishida looked at the delicate hand before him and felt his heart explode into his stomach and then bounce up to his throat. She didn't give him any choice in the matter because his hesitation merely caused her to grab his hand herself and yank him up. The Quincy hoped she wouldn't notice that his palm was all clammy. He was off balance so he stumbled until he was close enough to feel her hair brush against him. For that split second, their faces were almost close enough to touch. _Oh, God... _If this kept up, he'd die young of a heart attack.

"Ok, let's go!" Inoue giggled and pulled him, running over to Renji and Chad, who at this point, were victoriously limping towards them. Ishida didn't even have time to blush; the girl was like a whirlwind.

Chad lifted an eyebrow at Inoue and Ishida approaching hand-in-hand and chuckled under his breath. _Well, it's about time._

Inoue saw the state the two men were in and called out, "You two are hurt! Hold on, I'll help!"

Renji fell to one knee, panting hard. He'd taken a pretty nasty hit to the stomach. The bleeding wasn't terribly bad, slowly oozing from his injury. It wasn't bad enough to keep him from his first priority, though, which was regrouping and making sure Rukia, whose reiatsu was dangerously weakened, was all right. "Inoue, wait until we get back to Rukia and Ichigo."

She gave him a dubious look, her eyes moving from his sweat-soaked face to the spotch of wetness widening on this shihakushou, "But, Abarai-kun..."

"I'll be fine. Heal me later." With that, Renji nodded to Ishida and grabbed Chad by the shoulder, disappearing in shunpo. Ishida immediately understood what he was to do. He grabbed Inoue around her waist, and she let out a yelp of surprise. The Quincy flashed toward where they'd left Ichigo and Rukia.

When Inoue's head stopped spinning from being flashed away, she gazed at Ishida, who was concentrating on where he was going. She'd thought about what Ishida said in his fevered semi-consciousness and thought about her feelings, too. She couldn't say she was in love with Ishida, but she certainly cared for him a great deal. While she was healing her own hands, Inoue got the idea to start hanging around Ishida a little, no, a lot more, trying to get to know him better. It felt a little like cheating, though, knowing how he felt for her already, and of course it was easier to try a relationship with someone when you already knew he was in love with you. However, it left that certain someone extremely vulnerable. If she wasn't careful, she could break his heart, the last thing Inoue wanted to do. Inoue was willing to see this through, treading as carefully as she could. It's not every day a guy professes his undying love for you, even if he isn't aware of it.

Renji and Chad arrived just in time to watch Ichigo lay a breathless, blushing, but battered Rukia down gingerly upon Las Noches' cold, hard floor.

"Rukia!" cried Renji, both relieved she was conscious and horrified to see the bloody gashes and bruises she was covered in.

"I'm ok, Renji," Rukia sounded extremely annoyed, but her voice was weak, small. "I don't need you worrying about me or telling me how bad off I am, too. It looks worse than what it is."

Ichigo's eye twitched. "Don't lie, midget. You were within an inch of your life before I showed up." With that, he coughed up blood fitfully and flopped to the ground.

"And you're the perfect picture of health? Don't get too cocky there, fool, while you're bleeding all over the place yourself," Rukia lectured sternly.

"Okay," Inoue spoke up loudly to get their attention, arriving with Ishida just after Renji and Chad. Without hesitation she called on Ayame and Shon'ou forming a healing barrier around the two of them, cutting their bickering off. "You're both injured so just sit quietly while I heal you." Inoue flashed them a serious look followed quickly by goofy grin. She had such a hard time trying to act authoritative.

Whatever biting insult Ichigo and Rukia were about to throw at each other died in their throats as their eyes met under the amber glow of Inoue's barrier. Ichigo searched out Rukia's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Their foreheads met with a soft thump and they closed their eyes, an identical curve forming on their lips.

The guys got visibly uncomfortable at this, shifting their eyes away, fidgeting and making nervous noises in their throats. Inoue just gazed at the two, resisting the urge to say, "Aww," because she knew the look she would get from both of them if she did.

Ichigo was happy, and though it still hurt a bit to see him with Rukia, Inoue's own happiness for them had already begun to drown out the regret for herself. _I only hope one day I can find a love like that. _With that thought, her eyes slid to Ishida, who was pushing his glasses up onto his nose, his cheeks a cute blush pink. Inoue felt her face heat up and quickly looked away. _Maybe..._

"Now you two," Inoue turned the Shun Shun Rikka on Renji and Chad, who were still standing close enough together while trying to ignore the lovebirds. They took one look at each other, gasped and scrambled as far away from each other as the shield would allow. Chad spoke softly but urgently, "Please hurry, Inoue," while Renji fumed in his corner of the barrier, making himself as small as he could, as the hole in his middle closed up.

_______________________________________

"IIICCCHHIIIGGGOOOOOOOO!" Asano Keigo yelled down the hallway, running at top speed toward the orange-haired boy with his backpack slung over his shoulder like a second thought.

Once Keigo was upon him, Ichigo stuck out his arm, effectively clotheslining his friend. Keigo flipped almost completely over and crashed to the floor, which caused blood to spurt out of his nose and tears to run rivers from his eyes.

"Wah, Ichigo, where did you go? How much work are you going to have to make up? Are you going to fail this year? Wah, what's with those bandages on your head?" Keigo got out in one breath.

Ichigo replied to the only question he felt like answering, and even that was not the truth, "Meh, it's nothing. My sister left one of her plushies out, and I tripped over it."

"All that from tripping over a plushie?! You expect me to believe--mugh!" Keigo doubled over as Ichigo socked him in the stomach.

"Really, Asano, you need to learn to stop questioning him," Kojima Mizuiro said sweetly. "Besides," he whispered, "you already know what happened." The dark-haired boy stepped over Keigo and whistled as he manuevered himself between the three lovely teachers grouped in front of the teachers' lounge.

"I... hate... you... all," was mushed into the ground Keigo's face had implanted itself in.

As he made his way inside the classroom, Ichigo braced himself to see her empty desk, for only a very select few to remember the tiny, exceedingly curious and sometimes sickeningly sweet transfer student. He thought he was prepared for it: he wasn't even close. Every fiber in his being shook with the wrongness of seeing that void. She belonged wherever he was, but instead of being here, Rukia was in Soul Society, helping the post-war effort to mend.

It seemed ages ago and yet felt like it was only yesterday.

Getting out of Hueco Mundo was easier than they'd all believed. Kurotsuchi hadn't found anything in Aporro's lab that would work, although he and Nemu had their hands full with other "treasures" he'd discovered. With a tug on Ichigo's hakama, Nel had appeared with Pesche and Dondochakka, and bawled loudly, tears flowing down her face. She cried that she thought Ichigo was going to die in his fight against Ulquiorra, and Ichigo just hugged her to his leg, thanking her for everything she'd done for him. He didn't tell her that he actually had died for a moment because he knew she would just cry harder. When she got a hold of herself, she heard them all talking about leaving Hueco Mundo, to which she offered to open a Garganta from the inside, saying that all Espada knew how. Kenpachi's head popped up at her mention of rank, but he was quickly let down when a wary Ichigo explained the crack in her mask leaked reiatsu and she wouldn't be at full form until she could control the reiatsu loss.

Then Ichigo did the unthinkable and told Nel and her band of brothers to accompany them back to Karakura, to which Byakuya immediately spoke against, saying Nel and her companions needed to be purified: they were hollow, after all. Ichigo tried to explain, impassioned and furious with Byakuya, that Nel and her crew helped them even though they'd be branded as traitors, and that she'd fought the 5th Espada to save him, losing only because of the crack in her mask. Kenpachi lit up at this, and Yachiru giggled, patting the battle-hungry captain's head. He'd even added Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka only ate the hollows of animals and insects, that she'd be no danger to any plusses. Ignoring Ichigo's pleas and expressionless as always, Byakuya put his hand to Senbonzakura's hilt, to which Unohana laid her hand on his shoulder, effectively staying him. "Kuchiki-taichou," she'd said in her kind, wise voice, "not everything is as black and white as you assume it to be."

Making a Garganta from the Hueco Mundo side was something Aizen had not taken pains to prohibit so his Espada could get through. Nel opened one with relative ease, right onto the battlefield in the fake Karakura.

There they the defeat of Aizen at the hands of the Shinigami, Vaizard and Ichigo himself. Oomeada was lost due to his own cowardice and arrogance, to which Soifon-taichou was slightly saddened but mostly annoyed. Matsumoto and Ikkaku were probably still recuperating from their injuries. Yamamoto-soutaichou sacrificed himself to end Aizen in a proverbial blaze of glory, his zanpakutou incinerating everything in its wake in the final form of his bankai, cursing himself in the end for his own arrogance and lack of wisdom and compassion. He blamed himself for the events that spiraled out of control starting with Aizen's plot over 100 years ago, realizing his own faults had helped the enemy come this far. Shinji came close to losing his life, but in the last moment, it was Unohana that came to his aid in battle and, to the shock of the Shinigami and Vaizard alike, healed his wounds. In a display of her age, wisdom and authority, Unohana declared the Vaizard her allies. No one, not even Kuchiki Byakuya, was obliged to argue with her.

A time was set aside to mourn Yamamoto's passing in Soul Society and to pick up the pieces. A replacement for the soutaichou was not named in the week Ichigo spent there recuperating from the injuries he sustained in that last battle, but he was sure that it was mere formality that delayed Unohana's appointment to Captain-Commander. She was by far the oldest and wisest among them as far as Ichigo was concerned.

So once again, Rukia was in Soul Society, and Ichigo once again felt like a huge part of him was missing. Ichigo understood her need to aid her fellow shinigami in this crucial time, but his heart ached in spite of what his brain told him, reliving their last moments together over and over.

_"But, Rukia, there are hundreds of Shinigami. They can handle it without you, and... and...," Ichigo started, pacing around his room in the Kuchiki mansion, the one Rukia had procured by telling her brother all her friends were staying in the mansion and she absolutely would not have it any other way._

_"Ichigo, you know I can't just leave when there's so much to be done. Even if Soul Society wasn't in a state of upheaval, Ukitake-taichou isn't at all well after all his exertion, and the squad will need help. If we leave everything up to Sentaro and Kiyone..."_

_"Ok, I see your point there," Ichigo aquiesced, "things would be very loud and confusing, but just the same...."_

_Rukia just looked at him from where she sat on his bed. Ichigo knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere and that she was right, of course._

_"I am a Shinigami," she said, a fire lighting her eyes, "and being a Shinigami isn't always about fighting hollow. Sometimes it's more mundane and involves paperwork or hard and unexciting work, but it's still as fulfilling. I need you to respect..."_

_He plopped onto the bed next to her. "Ok, Ok, I respect it, Rukia, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. As a matter of fact, I really hate it, especially since it's keeping you away..."_

_She laid her head on his shoulder, "I know."_

_After a moment, he pulled her into him. "Just what I wanted," she sighed into her hair, "a long distance relationship."_

_Saying nothing, she looked up and planted a soft, heartfelt kiss on his lips. "I promise I'll come to Karakura as soon as I can."_

_"You know if you don't come back soon enough, I might just have to storm the Seireitei to find you again."_

_She pulled back, wide-eyed, "You wouldn't..."_

_Ichigo laughed at her shock, "Well, I would, so you better hurry up and get back here, midget." A swift kick to his shin let him know she didn't think he was all that funny._

_A short time later, at the Senkaimon in the Kuchiki grounds, Rukia said her good-byes to Ishida, Chad and Inoue, and once they were left alone, Rukia and Ichigo said theirs. _

_"Don't do anything too reckless while I'm away," she wasn't kidding._

_"Since when am I reckless?" he asked in slight annoyance and mock surprise._

_"Since all the time!" The punch landed on his bicep. Then her eyes became warm, caring, concerned, "Please be careful, Ichigo."_

_"I will," he reassured her, cupping her cheeks in his hands. He kissed her tenderly, and she kissed him back, her hands finding the opening in his shihakusho to caress his chest in the way she knew gave him chills._

_He pulled away first, as breathless as each one of their kisses seemed to leave him, but still able so sear into her very soul with his eyes. "Be safe, Rukia,"_

A month with no word from Rukia. It was the worst kind of torture. The last time Ichigo left her in Soul Society was nothing compared to the emptiness he felt now that he'd held her in his arms, kissed her soft lips and let his fingers slide through her silken hair. Then there were the little inklings of fear that bubbled up in him whether he let them or not. Rukia was indeed a shinigami, and that did mean fighting hollow, putting her life at risk. Yes, she was a capable and powerful if petite fighter, but she wasn't infallable or indestructible. Her life was as fragile as anyone else's, and she was far away from where he could protect her.

If she wasn't back soon, he might just have to storm Soul Society again.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: Wow, has it been that long since I've looked at this? How time files. I now have a beautiful 3 month-old boy who takes up most of my time. This story has obviously been on hiatus a while, and you all have my most sincere apology for that. I've actually gone up and down with how the manga has been unfolding, and it's affected how I want to go about writing this fic. Fear not, though, as I am still here, and I am still trying to get this story completed.


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